CEOs More Worried about Cybersecurity than Possible Recession

CEOs More Worried about Cybersecurity than Possible Recession

CEOs listed their biggest worries in a recent survey, most listing cybersecurity as their largest fear.

  • By Sydny Shepard
  • Jan 25, 2019

With markets uncertain, one might think a CEO in today's world is worried about a possible recession. Wrong. According to a new survey by the Conference Board, domestic CEOs do not find heavy economic headwinds their biggest external business worry — they are more concerned about cybersecurity.

After high-profile data breaches experienced over the last two years by such companies as Marriott, Equifax and Uber, it is understandable that most CEOs would fear the dreaded cyber breach. 

The study found that only U.S. CEOs were most concerned about cybersecurity. CEOs in countries like Latin America, Japan and China found a possible cyber breach to be less worrisome barely breaking the top ten list of pressing issues.

When it comes to recession, Europe, Japan, China and Latin America all rated this as their number one business worry.

However, while cybersecurity was a big issue, compliance with privacy regulations that protect consumers of so much data theft was not. Appearing on the list of internal issues, U.S. CEOs didn't even list compliance as a worry that broke their top ten, appearing at 12 on most lists.

In Europe, where the GDPR has just taken affect, CEOs listed compliance as an eight on their scale of worries.

About the Author

Sydny Shepard is the Executive Editor of Campus Security & Life Safety.

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