What Executives Get Wrong About Cybersecurity
MIT Sloan Management Review|Winter 2017

If you think the biggest cybersecurity threat most businesses face is credit card theft and the most important part of the solution is better prevention technology, think again.

Stuart E. Madnick
What Executives Get Wrong About Cybersecurity

Cyberattacks are in the news. All kinds of organizations — ranging from Target Corp., Yahoo Inc., Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Bangladesh Bank to the Democratic National Committee in the United States — have fallen victim to them in recent years. To gain a better understanding of cybersecurity threats — and what executives should do to better protect their companies — MIT Sloan Management Review sought out cybersecurity expert Stuart E. Madnick.

Madnick has been studying computer security for a long time. He coauthored his first book on the subject in 1979 and today is the director of MIT’s Interdisciplinary Consortium for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (IC)³, a consortium that brings together academic researchers, companies, and government experts. Madnick, who is the John Norris Maguire (1960) Professor of Information Technologies in the MIT Sloan School of Management and a professor of engineering systems at the MIT School of Engineering, spoke about trends in cybersecurity recently with MIT Sloan Management Review editorial director Martha E. Mangelsdorf. What follows is an edited and condensed version of their conversation.

MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW: Why did the MIT cybersecurity consortium you lead choose to focus on the nation’s critical infrastructure?

Denne historien er fra Winter 2017-utgaven av MIT Sloan Management Review.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra Winter 2017-utgaven av MIT Sloan Management Review.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEWSe alt
Ask Sanyin: How Do You Build for an Unpredictable Future?
MIT Sloan Management Review

Ask Sanyin: How Do You Build for an Unpredictable Future?

While the pandemic was a wild ride of uncertainty for me and many of my peers in leadership, it feels like we never regained our footing.

time-read
2 mins  |
Winter 2025
What You Still Can't Say at Work
MIT Sloan Management Review

What You Still Can't Say at Work

Most people know what can’t be said in their organization. But leaders can apply these techniques to break through the unwritten rules that make people self-censor.

time-read
7 mins  |
Winter 2025
Make Character Count in Hiring and Promoting
MIT Sloan Management Review

Make Character Count in Hiring and Promoting

Most managers focus on competencies when evaluating candidates but it’s character that will transform the DNA of the organization. Here’s how to assess it.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2025
Why Influence Is a Two-Way Street
MIT Sloan Management Review

Why Influence Is a Two-Way Street

Managers achieve better outcomes when they prioritize collaborative decision-making over powers of persuasion.

time-read
10 mins  |
Winter 2025
Know Your Data to Harness Federated Machine Learning
MIT Sloan Management Review

Know Your Data to Harness Federated Machine Learning

A collaborative approach to training AI models can yield better results, but it requires finding partners with data that complements your own.

time-read
9 mins  |
Winter 2025
How Integrating DEI Into Strategy Lifts Performance
MIT Sloan Management Review

How Integrating DEI Into Strategy Lifts Performance

Incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion practices into core business planning can provide a competitive edge.

time-read
9 mins  |
Winter 2025
The Myth of the Sustainable Consumer
MIT Sloan Management Review

The Myth of the Sustainable Consumer

Companies that understand the different kinds of consumers for sustainable products can market to them more effectively.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2025
A Practical Guide to Gaining Value From LLMs
MIT Sloan Management Review

A Practical Guide to Gaining Value From LLMs

Getting a return from generative AI investments requires a systematic approach to analyzing appropriate use cases.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2025
Improve Workflows by Managing Bottlenecks
MIT Sloan Management Review

Improve Workflows by Managing Bottlenecks

Understand whether process or resource constraints are stalling work.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2025
Craft Schedules That Work for Everyone
MIT Sloan Management Review

Craft Schedules That Work for Everyone

Business leaders can improve retention and business performance with schedules that make sense for workers’ lives.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2025