Unfortunately, even today, many executives do not take the significance of a cyberthreat seriously. For many, what is virtual is “unreal” and what is unreal cannot do any harm. False! Far be it from me that these business heads do not understand that the threat is real. I would even say that as long as it does not strike directly, it is underestimated.
As mentioned by Benoit Grenier in his article CEO’s and the Blind Spot of Cybercrimes:
Threats to computer systems and social media platforms are increasing, are increasingly innovative and can seriously affect the financial results, the image, the growth and even the survival of businesses and organizations.
It states, that the problem lies in the communication and perceptions of the different stakeholders in the company, and since not all speak the same language, it is difficult to agree on a common principle. The CEO will talk about business vision and business strategy with his own definition of what the IT threat is in the scope of corporate risk. While, for the CFO, the definition has a much more financial connotation in the sense of money spent rather than invested therefore without ROI. The CIO will see it as one more file to manage, data to compile and analyze, updates to perform, budgets to justify, while crossing his/her fingers that when the cyberthreat turns into a cybercrime, the attack will not be too damaging.
Despite the fact that corporate vulnerability is real, and rather than agreeing on a consensus strategy, many prefer to bury their heads in the sand and put the blame on someone else if a cyber-attack occurs. The CEO will blame the CIO for not having taken his responsibilities. The CIO will blame the CFO for not allocating the requested budget. The CFO will justify the decision by the numbers and on the account of the sales team and so on.
Nevertheless it is aberrant that in 2017 we are still struggling with the same problem that exists everywhere on this planet, in all fields, and since the dawn of time: communication. As such, fiction does not go far beyond reality, and even becomes it in many ways.
