Discuss leadership issues in an increasingly complex, changing, and challenging environment. (CO 4, 5, 6)
Analyze various leadership decisions regarding cybersecurity and determine the strengths and weaknesses of some courses of action. (CO 4)
Explain the importance of leadership in relation to cybersecurity across an enterprise. (CO 5, 6)
Compare two forms of leadership during significant breaches to an organization. (CO 4, 5)
Discuss the importance of consequence management and leadership. (CO 5, 6)
Two massive breaches occurred in the retail industry in 2014, one at Target, the other at Home Depot. In each case, leadership and breach management was scrutinized. Though the Home Depot breach was worse than the Target attack, Target stock dropped almost instantly, while Home Depot did not have a deep, continuous decline. How a CEO leads the organization before, during, and after an attack may be key to the future market and branding success of the company as well.
Read the following documents and answer the questions:
Aguilar, L. A. (2014, June 10). Boards of directors, corporate governance and cyber-risks: Sharpening the focus. Retrievedfrom http://www.sec.gov/News/Speech/Detail/Speech/1370542057946
Much, J. (2013, May 15). Beware the coming SEC regulations on cybersecurity. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2013/05/15/how-to-prepare-for-when-the-sec-comes-asking-about-cybersecurity-risk/#9ec5f064bba7
Hill, C. (2014, September 25). Home Depot’s data breach is worse than Target’s, so where’s the outrage? Retrieved from http://www.marketwatch.com/STORY/YAWN-WHO-CARES-ABOUT-HOME-DEPOTS-DATA-BREACH-2014-09-24
Levin, A. (2014, June 15). After the big data breach, has Target learned its lesson? Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/Business/big-data-breach-target-learned-lesson/story?id=24124097
Respond to the following:
Compare the attacks at Target and Home Depot.
What do the articles say about the consequences of the attacks?
What was the role of leadership before, during, and after the attacks?
Discuss some of the strengths and failings of the leadership and board members.
What does the former SEC commissioner say about cybersecurity and its relationship to the board room?