Business Case Studies & Business Publications

Cybersecurity: Managerial Basics

Laseter, Timothy M...

Technical Note

Cybersecurity: Managerial Basics

Laseter, Timothy M.; Johnson, M. Eric; Sesia, Aldo

OM-1807 | Published February 22, 2024 | 16 pages Technical Note

Collection: Darden School of Business

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Voice of the Instructor Video

This note introduces cybersecurity—what it is, why it is needed, and current practices and solutions. While the broad issue of information security is a concern for governments and individuals, this note focuses on internet-related risks facing private-sector enterprises. Cybersecurity is, or should be, front and center in the minds of leaders at companies that are adopting and applying digital technologies to transform how their companies operate. Those technologies continue to advance—in some cases at mind-boggling speed. Think artificial intelligence (AI), cloud solutions, enterprise integration, 5G communication, the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, and more. While these technologies promise to increase an enterprise’s efficiencies and deliver better customer services, they also introduce a new business risk: cyber risk. Cyber risk means risk of disruption of an enterprise’s operations, damage to its reputation, or both, caused by the deliberate actions—cyberattacks—of outsiders (cybercriminals) or enterprise insiders. Once thought to be the responsibility of an enterprise’s information technology (IT) department, cybersecurity—the prevention of and response to cyberattacks—is now every employee’s responsibility, from hourly workers to the board of directors. At the Darden School of Business, this note is taught in the second-year elective “Digital Operations” class; it would also be suitable in a module covering cyber risks.