As CEO, you encounter new and challenging risks daily if not hourly. From dealing with a response to supply chain issues, natural disasters or COVID-19. The world is a rough place to do business these days and you need to be proactive and nimble on your feet. Cybersecurity is another issue that CEO’s are having to put on their short list of issues to deal with as the impacts and costs related to a mishap in this area are increasing greatly. Should a cybersecurity breach occur on your watch, you will be the one they hold responsible for not properly positioning your company to prevent and or react to it. You will be the one they ask why the company was not properly prepared and why the right resources were not brought to bear.

In 2020, cybersecurity is not longer just an IT problem. Understanding your company’s risks as they relate to the data it has and how it safeguards it is as much of the C Suite’s responsibility as it is the IT folks. This means it is up to you to understand the implications of what a breach could have and the possible repercussions of such a breach to customers, vendors, and data subjects. Having an Incident Response Plan is a good start and conducting a Business Impact Analysis is a critical step in understanding how a cyberattack can impact your company and those who trust you with their data. Cyber attacks are occurring at an ever-increasing rate these days and are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Your company’s risk profile needs to be ever evolving to identify and address new threats as they emerge and be prepared to react appropriately.

Being a Cyber Aware CEO means setting the right culture for cybersecurity to be a priority for your company and preventing attacks should be ingrained in all employees’ daily rituals. Being a cyber aware company means educating and communicating with employees about cybersecurity and providing them with the proper tools to recognize and report potential incidents as they see them. The tone comes from the top and is your responsibility to embrace cyber security as a top priority.

Being Cyber Aware means ensuring your company has put in place an IT security framework with appropriate controls to ensure your data and assets are properly protected. It is crucial to test the effectiveness of the security controls and make sure they are working properly to help prevent and detect cyber issues. This would include having them audited on a periodic basis to make sure they can withstand outside scrutiny.

Being a cyber Aware CEO means:

• Knowing what kind of data your company stores (for example, credit card info, personal health information, company confidential information, etc.)
• Establishing a culture of cyber awareness. Making sure employees know what is expected of them and how to report things they see.
• Making sure your vendors and customers have adequate controls in place. In today’s interrelated world of outsourced providers, you are only as strong as your weakest link.
• Evaluating your cyber security capabilities including reviewing your cyber insurance policies.

Your reputation is on the line and being threatened on a daily basis. Being a Cyber aware CEO means taking the proactive steps to prevent events which could damage you company and those who rely on your company.

For more information on how to become a Cyber Aware CEO and improve your company’s cyber posture reach out to the experts at Alchemi Advisory Group at info@thealchemigroup.com or call us at (888) 590-1618.