Prediction 1
Digital Executive Protection will shift from a specialty offering to a strategic imperative.
Prediction 1
Digital Executive Protection will shift from a specialty offering to a strategic imperative.
In recent years, attackers have set their sights on a new target to penetrate enterprise defenses – corporate executives. Reports show that cyberattacks are increasingly targeting senior executives as the most vulnerable pathway into the enterprise, particularly given that traditional cybersecurity stops at the corporate perimeter. This scenario is particularly acute in the healthcare and insurance industries, where physical, digital, and reputational threats against executives are on the rise, driven by workforce reductions, public frustration over rising premiums, and other factors. Regardless of the industry, attackers are not just after an executive's password; they're after the company's intellectual property, brand reputation, and financial stability.
Consider the following ways these attacks can be carried out:
- A CEO's home Wi-Fi network, unsecured and used by their kids, becomes the entry point for a malicious actor.
- Public information about a CFO and their family on social media is used to craft a highly effective social engineering or deepfake attack.
- A board member's personal email is compromised, giving an attacker a foothold to gain access to corporate board documents and communications.
- A publicly available cell phone number is used in a SIM-swapping attack, leading to massive financial fraud.
As such threats escalate, business leaders, their connected homes, and their families are left unprotected, allowing cyber threats to escalate into real-world physical attacks due to unrestricted online access to personal data.
In 2026 and beyond, we'll see an accelerated rise in organizations implementing Digital Executive Protection within their corporate cybersecurity initiatives, driven by the need to bridge the gaps between cyber and physical security and personal and professional protection, and to integrate executive risk into enterprise-wide risk management strategies.
Key Takeaways
Board-level mandate
Boards will play a primary role in driving this top-down shift, viewing holistic DEP as essential to fulfilling fiduciary duty, maintaining financial stability, and preserving investor confidence amid increased regulatory scrutiny.
Focus on metrics and readiness
More companies will adopt formal DEP frameworks as benchmarks, closely measuring DEP metrics, executive risk scores, and incident response readiness.
Unified security
The broad adoption of holistic DEP will formally bridge the gap between IT security teams and physical security operations, creating a unified strategy to protect executives and the company.