Senior executives are still often the ‘weakest link’ in the corporate cyber security chain and encourage cyber criminals to target their vulnerabilities to commit serious data breaches.
A new report from outsourced infrastructure and data storage specialist The Bunker reveals many senior executives ignore the threat of hackers and cyber criminals, and often conceitedly feel that security policies in their organisations ‘do not apply to their unique position’.
In reality, however, their often privileged access to company information make their personal accounts extremely valuable to exploit – and heightens the need for extra care, the report – How Senior Executives Can Avoid Breaking the Cyber Security Chain – found. In addition to highlighting the common mistakes made by senior executives, the report lists the top security areas that should be prioritised to ensure cyber security resilience.
“All employees – especially those perched at the top of the corporate ladder- need to realise that cyber criminals use clever social engineering, email phishing and malware to access personal accounts,” says Phil Bindley, Managing Director at The Bunker. “C-suite and board-level executives especially need to avoid becoming the weakest link in the cyber security chain by adhering to regularly updated, company-wide security policies regarding data sharing and backup.”
Bindley continues: “Cloud offers a highly secure and cost-effective platform to defend against threats and malicious attacks. However, data stored in a public cloud typically resides outside the protection of an organisation’s internal systems and many vendors do not automatically back-up data or implement security and privacy controls as standard, making it a perfect entry-point for cyber criminals to exploit.”
More information:
https://www.thebunker.net/app/uploads/2019/01/Are-you-the-Weakest-Link-Whitepaper.pdf