Clearly, cybersecurity is everybody’s problem. It’s high time this truth was recognized, starting with the executive suite on down.

The news today is flush with salacious stories of cyber-security breaches, data held hostage in brazen ransomware attacks, and compromised records and consumer information. So too has the fallout become increasingly familiar: broken trust, ruined brands, class-action lawsuits, and prolonged periods of finger pointing.

In September 2017, news broke that consumer credit reporting agency Equifax had suffered a catastrophic breach the preceding May. Hackers gained access to the personal data of nearly 150 million American citizens – roughly two thirds of the country’s population – including full names, Social Security numbers, addresses, and dates of birth. The swiftly unfolding scandal sent the company’s stock plummeting 33%, a market value loss of approximately ten billion dollars. Currently, three Equifax C-Suite managers are under federal investigation for allegedly dumping stock prior to disclosing the breach.

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