Your Cybersecurity Apathy Is Your Company's Biggest Vulnerability

An uncomfortable truth about executive cybersecurity negligence in 2025

You're the Problem. Yes, You.

Let's drop the pretense. You know that sticky note with your password under your keyboard? Your entire IT department knows about it. That time you had your assistant log into your email because you "couldn't be bothered" with the two-factor authentication? Your security team died a little inside.

You're not just bad at cybersecurity – you're actively hostile to it. And here's the kicker: your 60,000 employees are watching you roll your eyes every time someone mentions "security protocols," and they're learning that security doesn't actually matter in your organisation.

"I Don't Have Time for This"

Of course you don't. You're busy. Running a company. Making deals. Playing golf with investors.

But somehow you found time for that three-hour strategy meeting about the office Christmas party theme. You found time to micromanage the font choice on the quarterly report. You found time to send seventeen emails about the executive car park spaces.

But ten seconds to approve a 2FA prompt? Impossible. Five minutes to attend a security briefing? Unthinkable. The truth isn't that you don't have time – it's that you've decided cybersecurity isn't worth your time.

"I'm Not Technical"

Neither is your 73-year-old Mum, but she figured out how to use FaceID.

Stop hiding behind the "I'm not technical" excuse. You don't need to understand TCP/IP protocols or encryption algorithms. You need to understand this: clicking "yes" on a 2FA prompt takes less brainpower than ordering your morning flat white.

You learnt to use email. You learnt to use your smartphone. You even learnt to unmute yourself on Teams (eventually). But somehow, using a password manager is beyond your intellectual capacity? Yeah, right.

The Trickle-Down Negligence

Here's what your visible apathy actually costs:

When you share your password with three collegues because you "can't be bothered," your VP of Sales suddenly decides it's fine to share credentials with his team too. When he does it, the regional managers follow suit. Within six months, your "secure" CRM system has 500 people sharing 50 passwords.

When you complain loudly about having to change your password quarterly, your FD stops enforcing password policies in Finance. Your CISO's emails about security training get ignored because everyone knows the CEO thinks it's "paranoid nonsense for nerds."

Your IT team stops trying. Your security team stops caring. Your employees stop following protocols. Congratulations – you've created a security culture where the biggest risk isn't external hackers. It's you.

The 2025 Reality Check

While you're too important to remember passwords:

• The average ransomware payment hit £2.1 million in 2024
• 71% of breaches involved compromised credentials
• Executive email accounts are worth £40,000+ on the dark web
• Your competitors who take security seriously are eating your lunch

That acquisition deal you're working on? It'll fall apart when due diligence reveals your security posture is a complete shambles. That flotation you're planning? Good luck explaining to investors why your CEO's email password is still "Company123!"

Your Excuses Are Expired

"2FA is annoying" – So is explaining to shareholders why you lost £8 million to ransomware.

"Password requirements are too complex" – Not as complex as bankruptcy proceedings.

"Security slows me down" – You know what really slows you down? Your entire operation grinding to a halt because someone clicked a phishing link.

"We haven't been hacked yet" – Neither had British Airways, Tesco, or the NHS before WannaCry. Past performance, future results, etc.

The Mirror Test

Tomorrow morning, look in the mirror and ask yourself: Am I the weakest link in my company's security?

If you can't remember the last time you changed your password, if you've shared your credentials in the past month, if you've complained about security measures in front of your team – the answer is yes.

You're not just a bad example. You're a liability. A walking, talking security breach waiting to happen. And when it does happen – not if, when – it won't be some sophisticated nation-state attack that brings your organisation down.

It'll be because you, the CEO, couldn't be bothered to spend thirty seconds setting up two-factor authentication.

The Bottom Line

Your apathy isn't just negligent – in 2025's threat landscape, it's an existential risk to your business. Your board should be asking hard questions about why their CEO treats cybersecurity like an optional inconvenience rather than a fundamental business requirement.

Every day you continue to model terrible security behaviour is another day you're gambling with your company's future. And unlike your golf handicap, this is one area where being terrible isn't something to joke about at the golf club.

Fix it. Today. Before you become the cautionary tale other CEOs tell at conferences.

Or don't. Your competitors would love to pick up your customers after your inevitable breach makes headlines.

P.S. – If this article made you angry enough to finally enable 2FA on your accounts, congratulations. You're slightly less of a liability than you were five minutes ago. Now go apologise to your CISO.