Closing the C-Suite Cybersecurity Gap: Why Alignment Matters More Than Ever
A few years ago, a fast-growing mid-market company found itself facing a quiet crisis.
The CEO felt confident that cybersecurity was under control. After all, there was a dedicated team and a CISO in place. Meanwhile, the CISO had been raising concerns for months about outdated detection tools, internal access risks, and vulnerable vendor touchpoints. Both leaders were deeply committed to protecting the business, but they were operating with different assumptions and levels of urgency.
Then a targeted ransomware attempt nearly halted operations. The company contained it, but the near miss exposed a deeper issue. The problem wasn’t only technical. It was strategic. The executive team didn’t share the same understanding of risk, readiness, or responsibility.
This scenario is increasingly common.
Recent research from Ernst & Young shows that while 84% of C-suite leaders say cybersecurity has become a bigger priority, the gap between CISOs and the rest of the executive team is widening. That gap directly influences organizational exposure, investment decisions, and resilience.
How Exposed Is the Organization?
Sixty-six percent of CISOs believe cyber threats are advancing faster than internal defenses, compared to fifty-six percent of other executives. Those closest to the risk surface tend to recognize urgency earlier, while others may assume existing protections are sufficient.
How Much Are We Investing?
There is also a significant perception gap around cybersecurity budgets.
Sixty-seven percent of CISOs say their cyber budget exceeds seven figures.
Only forty-five percent of other C-suite members believe the same.
In many organizations, cybersecurity is still blended into general IT budgets, which makes it difficult to demonstrate accountability, maturity progress, or strategic ROI.
What’s Working and Who Thinks So?
Executives differ on what investments are driving security improvements:
Seventy-five percent of CISOs credit AI-driven detection and response.
Sixty-eight percent of other executives agree.
Seventy-seven percent of non-security leaders prioritize employee training.
Only sixty-nine percent of CISOs place training at the same level.
These different perspectives reflect the roles involved, not disagreement. Without shared success metrics, collaboration remains limited.
Where Are the Threats Coming From?
CISOs report more internal access risks and more external cybercriminal activity than other leaders acknowledge. When leadership teams do not share visibility into where risk originates, organizations struggle to prioritize effectively.
Four Actions for Closing the Leadership Disconnect
To shift cybersecurity from a technical function to a strategic advantage, leadership teams should:
Raise shared awareness of risk across the C-suite and board.
Create a dedicated and transparent cybersecurity budget tied to business outcomes.
Align success metrics such as incident reduction, detection speed, and resilience maturity.
Integrate cybersecurity considerations into business planning, product development, vendor oversight, and scaling decisions.
Why This Matters for Growing Organizations
As businesses adopt AI-driven tools, expand digital ecosystems, and accelerate operational growth, risk evolves quickly. Without unified leadership alignment, expansion can introduce fragility rather than strength.
At Octellient, we believe cybersecurity should empower the business. With shared language, shared accountability, and shared visibility, cybersecurity becomes a driver of trust, performance, and resilience.
Your business is built to grow. Your security strategy should support that growth, not slow it down. When leadership is aligned, cybersecurity becomes a competitive advantage that strengthens trust and accelerates innovation.
Connect with us to explore how to turn security into a driver of confidence, performance, and long-term value.
References: EY
