Regulators, investors and executive leadership teams are increasingly treating cyber incidents not as technical failures but as matters of governance, resilience and accountability.
But while this risk is now widely understood, ownership and governance are often unclear, especially when accountability is under regulatory, legal, or post-incident scrutiny. Additionally, as expectations rise, many organisations now find themselves facing a persistent challenge.
The challenge
Many organisations continue to manage cyber risk through fragmented structures. For instance, boards receive dashboards rather than decision-grade evidence of who decided what, against which risk appetite, and with what compensating controls in place.
According to a statement by Cybersense Solutions, this is what is known as the auditability gap: not a lack of controls, but a lack of defensible governance evidence. It is a challenge playing out across industries where the stakes are high, and where cyber risk intersects directly with business continuity, safety and regulatory compliance.
“Most organisations already understand where their vulnerabilities are,” said Cybersense Solutions Regional Managing Director Adrian Harris.
“The issue is rarely awareness; it is ownership. Decisions around cyber risk are frequently deferred because accountability sits between departments, between legal and IT, between the board and the operations team.”