Chief Financial Officers face growing financial pressures from IT security failures, such as the recent major collapse of online systems due to a CrowdStrike software update that took down networks worldwide. By now, CFOs should know that the internet infrastructure is built upon a fragile foundation of interconnections and dependencies, meaning that unexpected problems can quickly spiral out of control. Such cascading global failures will continue to wreak widespread financial damages and business losses stemming from disgruntled travelers stranded at airports, e-commerce systems that get taken down, or online service providers who cannot maintain connectivity.
These are all glaring problems for CFOs responsible for protecting their organizational investments. Over the past decade, critical elements of the U.S. infrastructure – including systems for the internet, energy, transportation, finance, agriculture, health care, and utilities – have all sustained cyberattacks from foreign adversaries and homegrown terrorists alike. The attacker groups have ranged from criminal ransomware gangs to rival nation-states who seek to disrupt vital U.S. operations.
Such cyber threats…
