C-level executives fear “domino effect” of cyber attacks

The threat of cyber attacks instills in executives not only the fear of exposing customers’ and employees’ personal information, but also prompts serious concern that a “coordinated assault” by cybercriminals could disrupt business operations, damage corporate brands, and even negatively affect entire industries, according to a survey from RedSeal.

RedSeal, a cybersecurity certification firm, asked C-suite level executives to describe the far-reaching effects that a targeted cyber attack could have on their businesses and learned from respondents that networking today means interconnectivity that could easily be brought down, meaning “havoc on a local, state, national and even global level.”

“As this research makes clear, securing the network infrastructure to ensure ongoing business operations is not an abstract concern: It’s a vital issue, because a successful attack will have devastating and even far-reaching consequences,” said Ray Rothrock, chairman and CEO of RedSeal. “A coordinated, sophisticated and large-scale assault will not stay within the walls of the company being attacked. It could easily trigger a domino effect and cause widespread disruption, reaching companies in other sectors and even the national grid. I’ve been investing in cybersecurity for 25 years, and I see how the level of sophistication in cyberattacks has increased dramatically in just the past few years.”

Respondents to the survey include CEOs, CIOs, CISOs and CSOs at organizations with 250 or more employees. Of those, a majority (74 percent) said that U.S. organizations face “serious damage or disruption” from cyber attacks, with 21 percent expressing concern about “significant damage or disruption.” RedSeal found that 80 percent of executives worry about the effect a cyber attack could have on their business profitability and brand, with 45 percent concerned about the “big hit on employee productivity.” Over 43 percent feel there will be downtime in the business, with 41 percent fearing “internal/organizational disruption or chaos.”

Executives called attention to the possibility of a “domino effect,” with the impact of a cyber attack rippling through their organizations and extending to related companies, defense systems, and overall industry health and economic security. The financial services industry and the energy/utilities sectors prompted the most concern for respondents.

“What this survey rightly highlights is that in a hyper-networked economy, where most networks are inextricably linked to each other, a major network attack will be very difficult to isolate,” said Richard Stiennon of IT-Harvest. “This isn’t an IT or even a basic operational issue—it has national significance, and should be managed accordingly.”