It is clear that the ramifications of cyber incidents go beyond a short-term stock price reduction, and it is essential for executives to prepare for long-term impacts. A systematic response strategy and a proactive customer attitude — such as leading with already implemented cybersecurity measures, pivoting to planned improvements, and practicing fire drills — have proven to be
in reducing the negative impacts of cyber incidents. To prepare for the long-term perspective, here are two critical efforts executives should undertake:This is the first task executives should undertake to protect their companies. Having such a champion can not only help in responding to cyber incidents, but it can also keep cybersecurity as a strategic front and impart cybersecurity knowledge to the board.
through effective communications and in developing agile management processes. Beyond having a CIO or CISO sitting on the board to take responsibility for cybersecurity, a CEO or CFO with related expertise can also effectively reduce the cybersecurity risk and keep a company away from a cyber incident.The second critical effort that executives should undertake is adopting a long-term cybersecurity strategy, rather than a short-term, reactive approach.
Cybersecurity should be an organization-wide priority, as employees are always the front line for mitigating cybersecurity risks. Cybersecurity should be part of. Consider again Samsung semiconductor’s data breach incident, where employees submitted top-secret source code to ChatGPT for error fixing. This incident was not due to a technical weakness, but was rather a cultural and operational issue.
Acknowledgment: The research reported in this article was supported, in part, by funds from the NSFC 6217071254 and the members of the Cybersecurity at MIT Sloan consortium.Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Digital Intelligence . Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.