Executive cyber protection tools provide security for those at the top of the organization with special privileges and access to sensitive information. These are some of the options. Credit: Jacob Lund / Shutterstock With access to sensitive commercial information, executives face professional and personal cybersecurity risks that transcend those of most other employees. Executives can face targeted fraud and financial attacks on them and their families, blackmail attempts, and identity compromise. Attackers can also impersonate executives to enable phishing, deepfakes, and social engineering-led attacks. Compromised executives' devices can potentially lead to significant damage to their organizations in terms of financial and reputational loss, fines and other penalties, and even change in market value. Given their privileged position, executives require a stronger level of cyber protection. Understanding the need for executive cyber protection A recent Ponemon report, sponsored by BlackCloak, revealed that 42% of respondents indicated that key executives and family members have already experienced at least one cyberattack. While it's likely that cybercriminals will target executives and the digital assets they have access to, organizations are not responding with suitable strategies, budgets, and staff, the report found. Just over half (58%) of respondents reported that the prevention of threats against executives and their digital assets is not covered in their cyber, IT and physical security strategies and budget. The lack of attention is demonstrated with only 38% of respondents reporting a dedicated team to prevent or respond to cyber or privacy attacks against executives and their families. The best practice to do this well would be to protect the executive as well as their family, inner circle, and associates with a broad range of measures, Agency's Executive Digital Protection report noted. The solutions need to balance breadth, value, privacy, and specialization, it said. These are some of the solutions available to address this risk. They are designed around the specific cyber risks that executives face across personal and professional realms. BlackCloak Concierge Cybersecurity BlackCloak's Concierge Digital Executive Protection service bundles security and privacy tools into a single platform that builds in a security operations center and dedicated privacy experts. This includes mobile device monitoring, protection against identity theft and phishing, data broker removal services, education and training, home network monitoring, threat Intelligence, and managed detection and incident response. The service allows reporting on the personal information cybersecurity of executives without relaying any of their private information to the organization. Constella Intelligence Dome Executive Protection Constella Dome Executive Protection offers protection against credential theft, account takeover, social media impersonation, reputation attacks, supply chain attacks and regulated data exposure that can be targeted at executives having a public profile. The service can initiate automated takedown of exposed identities, data or impersonation profiles and revoke compromised credentials. It offers automated, continuous monitoring of executives' digital footprint, real-time alerts of digital risks like exposed credentials, impersonation, personal and family data on the dark web, and potential threats on social media. Mandiant Executive Cybersecurity Services Mandiant Executive Cybersecurity Services are designed to help senior leaders understand the organization's cyber threat profile, business risks, and potential breach impacts. It includes executive tabletop exercises that walk leaders through their incident response plans to prepare for a real event. It also offers a senior executive mentorship program, a cybercrime for executives training course, and weekly executive intelligence briefings. Morrisec Cyber Security Training for Executives Morrisec Cyber Security Training for Executives is a suite of dedicated training for executives and board members designed to educate them about the types of attacks they may encounter and how to recognize and defend against these attacks. The aim is to help them gain proficiency in cybersecurity, insight into the identity and motivation of threat actors, and awareness of business consequences of an attack, including financial losses, legal penalties, reputational damage, shareholders action and loss of licenses or fines. OneRep Corporate OneRep removes unauthorized personal information such as age, family details, and location information from the web. It's suitable for executives and other employees where it's important to protect sensitive information from being widely available. It scans 190-plus websites to find where the individual is exposed and an automated function then erases personal information from these websites and continuously monitors them. Proofpoint Executive and Location Threat Monitoring Proofpoint Executive and Location Threat Monitoring solution crawls the web and social media sites for real-time threat monitoring to detect reputational risks, compromises of executives’ accounts, doxing, cyberstalking, protests, and other real-time threats to the organization and its executive. Proofpoint also has its Advanced BEC Defense that uses behavioral AI and threat intelligence to detect and stop business email compromise (BEC) attacks that target and impersonate executives. Scarlett Executive Cybersecurity Protection Concierge Scarlett Executive Cybersecurity Protection Concierge is a dedicated service designed for the leadership level of an organization that includes a range of tools to protect and prevent data theft. This includes assistance for laptop security, continuous monitoring with advanced endpoint security tools and analysis, inbox training and filtering controls against phishing attacks, dedicated suspicious activity monitoring, protection against data loss on executive devices, data exfiltration monitoring, and always-available concierge support in the case of any attacks of breaches. ZeroFox Executive Protection ZeroFox Executive Protection focuses on preventing the exploitation of executive reputation and influence through social media impersonations, account takeovers and phishing attacks. It also detects and removes exposed personally identifiable information (PII) on data broker sites. ZeroFox Executive Protection uses AI-led tools to analyze social media, data broker sites, and the dark web to protect against disclosures leading to executive impersonations, inadvertent leakage of critical data, or compromise of digital and physical safety. Related content feature Top cybersecurity M&A deals for 2023 Fears of recession, rising interest rates, mass tech layoffs, and conservative spending trends are likely to make dealmakers cautious, but an ever-increasing need to defend against bigger and faster attacks will likely keep M&A activity steady in By CSO Staff Sep 22, 2023 24 mins Mergers and Acquisitions Mergers and Acquisitions Mergers and Acquisitions brandpost Unmasking ransomware threat clusters: Why it matters to defenders Similar patterns of behavior among ransomware treat groups can help security teams better understand and prepare for attacks By Joan Goodchild Sep 21, 2023 3 mins Cybercrime news analysis China’s offensive cyber operations support “soft power” agenda in Africa Researchers track Chinese cyber espionage intrusions targeting African industrial sectors. By Michael Hill Sep 21, 2023 5 mins Advanced Persistent Threats Cyberattacks Critical Infrastructure brandpost Proactive OT security requires visibility + prevention You cannot protect your operation by simply watching and waiting. It is essential to have a defense-in-depth approach. By Austen Byers Sep 21, 2023 4 mins Security Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe