As cybercrime continues to rise, many C-suite executives are aware of its threat to their organisations. However, a recent report from Kaspersky has found that many struggle to understand cyber security terminology — resulting in their inability to act on online security issues appropriately.
The Disconnect Between C-Suite And Cyber Security Professionals
Highlighting a significant language barrier between C-suite executives and cyber security professionals in Europe, the report found that the people in charge of making business decisions often lacked an understanding of basic terms such as malware, phishing, ransomware and supply chain attacks.
More technical terms such as Mitre ATT&CK, TTPs, Yara rules and Suricata rules are prohibitively specialised and beyond the comprehension of most C-suite executives without a background in the online security sector.
Online Security And The Boardroom
Without a proper understanding of cyber security language and the online security threats their organisation constantly faces, it’s difficult for C-suite executives to prioritise cyber security in the boardroom.
This language disconnect between the C-suite and the cyber security sector means that business decisions are made without a clear understanding of best practices or even the nature of the online security threats.
Connecting C-Suite To Cyber Security
Almost half of CISOs agreed that confusing terminology was the most significant barrier to other C-suite colleagues’ understanding of cyber security.
However, just under half of the respondents reported relying on news stories, blogs and social media for their online security insight. This puts them at risk of only consuming popular or trending issues without learning the wider context and what cyber threat means for their company.
Education is paramount to effectively stressing online security’s importance to the C-suite. Online security awareness training and communicating security risks in terms of business objectives can help C-level executives to understand and make best-practice decisions around cyber security.
As cyber security continues to be pulled into focus for many organisations, bridging this communication gap between online security and the boardroom remains crucial in protecting organisations from rising cyber attacks.
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