What Every CEO Needs to Know About Cybersecurity in 2025

Cybersecurity isn’t just an IT concern anymore — it’s a boardroom conversation.

If you’re a CEO, you’re not expected to configure firewalls or spot phishing emails...
But you are expected to protect your company from reputation damage, lawsuits, and multi-million dollar breaches.

The truth? Most CEOs I work with haven’t been given a clear cybersecurity roadmap.
So let’s fix that.

CEOs Set the Tone for Cybersecurity Culture

When the CEO takes cybersecurity seriously, everyone else does too.
But when the message is “That’s IT’s job,” the rest of the team tunes out — until a ransomware attack locks down the entire company.

Want your employees to flag phishing emails?
To follow secure file procedures?
To treat client data like gold?

Then show them it matters from the top.

➡️ Here's how to build a cybersecurity culture your whole team buys into

The CEO’s Cybersecurity Responsibility (Legally Speaking)

Here’s the harsh truth:
Negligence is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

If your company gets hacked and you didn’t take reasonable steps to prevent it, you may be held liable — not just in court, but in the press, with investors, and on earnings calls.

You don’t need to be a tech expert. But you do need to know how to protect your business legally.

➡️ Read: How to Avoid a Lawsuit After a Data Breach

5 Things Every CEO Should Be Doing Right Now

✅ 1. Appoint a Cybersecurity Champion

Whether it’s your CIO, CISO, or a trusted advisor, have someone who reports directly to you on cyber risk.

✅ 2. Get Leadership Cybersecurity Training

Executives face different threats than employees. Spear phishing. Fake vendor scams. CEO impersonation attacks.
➡️ Start here: Why Most Cybersecurity Trainings Fail

✅ 3. Demand Real-World Risk Assessments

Ask your IT team: “What’s our biggest vulnerability right now?” If they don’t have an answer, that is your biggest vulnerability.

✅ 4. Back Cybersecurity with Budget

Security isn’t an expense — it’s risk management. Just like insurance, legal, and disaster recovery.

✅ 5. Get a Cybersecurity Strategy You Understand

You shouldn’t need a tech dictionary to grasp your plan. Demand clear, simple, actionable insight from your team.

And Yes — CEOs Need to Know About AI-Driven Threats

AI isn’t just changing how we do business — it’s changing how hackers do crime.

In 2025, most phishing scams aren’t written by humans. They’re written by bots that mimic your team’s tone, writing style, and timing.

➡️ Learn how AI is making hackers more dangerous

If your leadership team isn’t aware of AI-powered threats, they’re already behind.

Bonus: CEO Cyber Risk Questions to Ask in Your Next Exec Meeting

• “Do we have a ransomware response plan?”

• “When was our last phishing simulation?”

• “Do we know our legal reporting timeline if a breach happens?”

• “Is our cyber insurance policy up-to-date — and will it actually pay out?”

• “How confident are we that our people won’t click a malicious link tomorrow?”

➡️ Here’s a refresher on the Big 3 threats you should be asking about

Ready to Train Your Leadership Team?

I’m Mike Wright — The Security Guru — and I help CEOs and executive teams stop guessing and start leading when it comes to cyber risk.

✅ Leadership-level cybersecurity training
✅ Custom executive briefings & workshops
✅ Real-world speaking, no fluff or fearmongering
✅ Practical strategies that make sense and make an impact

👉 Book an executive training session — and protect your company the Wright way.