Security Awareness – Executives Are Four Times More Likely to Fall for Phishing Attacks Compared to Regular Employees

Top level executives are more likely to expose their organization to potential cyber attacks compared to regular workers and they are also more likely to use easy to guess passwords, according to a new study by the cybersecurity company Ivanti.

The study, titled State of Security Preparedness 2023, surveyed 6,500 executives, cybersecurity professionals, and office workers to understand the perception of today’s cybersecurity threats and find out how businesses are preparing for future threats. The report states that while a remarkable 97 percent of leaders and security professionals state that their organization is as prepared or more prepared to defend against cybersecurity attacks than they were a year ago, still one in five ‘wouldn’t bet a chocolate bar’ they could prevent a damaging breach. Notably, the study revealed that executives display some of the riskiest behavior. For instance, the report found that more than 1 in 3 executives have clicked on a phishing link and almost 1 in 4 use easy-to-remember birthdays as part of their password. In addition, they are much more likely to hang on to passwords for years and 5 times more likely to share their password with people outside the organization. Consequently, to strengthen your organization’s cybersecurity posture it is key to conduct frequent security awareness training courses. Awareness training helps cybersecurity professionals better manage human risk by altering how employees think about cybersecurity and teaching them to carefully consider their behaviors. Read more at SC Media.