Matt Cullina is Head of Global Cyber Insurance Business at Transunion.
Last year’s attack on UnitedHealthcare’s CEO invigorated the conversation about corporate executive security. Some large organizations are spending millions on personal bodyguards, home monitoring and transportation as precautionary measures for the physical safety of top executives.
However, as the focus on physical safety has strengthened, I believe a significant vulnerability remains overlooked: cyber threats to executives and their families, which pose a risk to personal and corporate finances, intellectual property, digital assets and reputation.
For cybercriminals, executives are highly prized targets. Their access to capital resources and trade secrets, coupled with ever-expanding digital footprints, lures criminals to design sophisticated attacks. And it’s not just the executive at risk. Threat actors look for every angle to compromise, including gaining backdoor access through an attack on an executive’s family members.
Unlike physical security protocols, I find cyber protections for executives and their families often lack the same rigor, and the stakes for these security gaps are growing higher.
Executive Families: A Wealth Of Cyber Risks
The reality is stark: Today’s cybercriminals have more tools than ever to breach personal and corporate defenses. These risks are compounded by an increasing reliance on digital services and the prolific use of social media platforms where executives’ spouses and children may unknowingly share information that can be exploited for social engineering attacks.
Research by Javelin Strategy highlights this danger. Children from affluent households are at greater risk of identity theft and scams. Given the access to social media and persistent appetite for social gossip news, the identities of executives’ children and spouses can not only be known, but they’re increasingly trackable—both in person and online. Public profiles, media mentions and even school achievements publicized online are potential fodder for exploitation.
Emerging technologies only escalate the stakes. Deepfake tools and generative AI have armed cybercriminals with the ability to impersonate executives or their loved ones with incredible realism. Modern criminals know human psychology is the weakest link in even the strongest cybersecurity defense. This is why social engineering has replaced ransomware as the primary path to illegal system access.
The repercussions of such attacks are far-reaching. An executive compromised through a family-targeted scam can quickly lead to broader breaches in corporate security. Executives may feel reluctant to report these incidents due to fears of embarrassment or reputational harm, which only further emboldens cybercriminals.
Given the high-stakes landscape, companies must evolve their approaches to integrate digital protection for executives into their broader security frameworks. To be effective, solutions need to move further into the territory of tailored, proactive strategies that anticipate the unique digital risks executives and their families face.
Protection Beyond The Workplace
Particularly for executives facing a widening array of cyber risk vectors, cyber insurance protections offered through corporate policies are murky and complicated. Most executives believe they’re adequately protected by commercial policies, when in reality, these policies rarely cover incidents originating from personal exposure. On the personal front, the identity protection they may have attached to a home insurance policy is not equipped to cover complex incidents affecting both personal and corporate systems.
In recognition of the growing complexities for executives, the cyber insurance industry is responding with more tailored offerings that fill the gaps of traditional coverages. New policies developed for executives and high-net-worth individuals, more specifically, address their unique risk profiles.
One of the most promising developments in executive protection is the emergence of tailored cyber insurance policies. Unlike traditional coverage, these policies are designed specifically to address the risk profiles of high-powered and high-net-worth individuals and their families. Now, a personal cyber endorsement for executives or board members and their families can be attached to commercial cyber policies. Coverage can include robust protection, including identity monitoring, incident response services, social engineering fraud protection and access to round-the-clock support in the event of a cyber incident.
When included in an executive perks package, these offerings simultaneously strengthen an organization’s overall cybersecurity posture. When reassured with protections that extend across the home front, covered executives can focus their attention more fully on company leadership.
Proactive Steps To Take Now
Forward-thinking organizations are beginning to weave executive cyber well-being into their risk management strategies. Key actions that keep executives and their families, along with corporate systems—safer include:
• Conducting Personalized Risk Assessments: Conduct an assessment of each executive’s digital footprint, including their family’s online exposure.
• Providing Personalized Education And Training: Develop briefings for executives and their families outlining the unique risks they face, alert them to emerging threats and review best practices.
• Strengthening Defenses: Whenever possible, assist executives and families in setting up additional security measures, including things like communication channels, device security and access controls.
• Extending Cyber Protection Benefits: Consider digital security as part of the executive benefits package, wrapping together comprehensive protections such as identity monitoring, fraud remediation, cyber incident response and cyber insurance.
• Establishing Incident Response Processes: Given the prevalence of digital risks, it’s wise for every organization to have a cyber incident response plan in place long before it’s needed. Outline processes for attacks targeting an executive or family member and ensure they have immediate access to expert support to minimize potential damage.
• Speak To Your Commercial Insurance Agent: Though offerings for more comprehensive and specialized personal cyber protections are expanding, it is still an emerging trend. You may need to be vocal about the desire for greater protection.
Holistic Security Is Better Security
As threat actors grow more sophisticated, companies must match that complexity with holistic, specialized protection that extends beyond office walls and deeper into the digital lives of their leaders.
By taking steps before a crisis upends the life of an executive or the assets of the company, an organization will have done more than avoid a singular crisis; it will be better positioned to defend against emerging threats, enhance executive value propositions and operate in a more stable environment.
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