Cybersecurity Threats Top Board Agendas

“Cybersecurity threats” sits at the top of many board agendas for the next quarter, according to the NACD Quarterly Survey. The “Q2 2024” deployment of the survey was in the field from June 5 to June 12, and asked directors to identify the top business issues on their board’s agenda for the upcoming quarter. “Shifting economic conditions” and “regulatory requirements“ remain top-ranked issues, but respondents’ comments highlighted ongoing concerns around cybersecurity and talent. 

Key Takeaways:

Cybersecurity

“Cybersecurity threats” have overtaken “shifting economic conditions” as the most widely selected top-five business issue for boards. Fifty percent (50%) of respondents included the issue in their top five this quarter, a slight increase from 46 percent the previous quarter. This comes as large-scale cyberattacks have affected multiple industries. In one of the most recent and high-profile disruptions, car dealerships across the United States were forced to resort to pen and paper methods to manage their operations, as CDK Global, a provider of crucial operational software, was hacked. Meanwhile, more details have come to light about a cyberattack in February that knocked Change Healthcare, one of the largest health-payment processing companies in the world, offline. The attack resulted in numerous unpaid claims, cash-flow problems for hospitals and doctors’ offices, and the exposure of patient health-care information. Survey respondents do not appear optimistic regarding the future course of events in this space, with one respondent noting, “I suspect boards will continue to grapple with the effects of high-profile breaches and their impact in terms of compliance violations, downtime, and loss of customer trust in the coming 12 months.”

Competition for Talent

”Competition for talent” continues to be a key focus area and was the fourth-most-selected issue. A key theme is the attraction and retention of both “skilled” and “unskilled” individuals in “lower-level” positions. “The number of engineers graduating from BS programs is insufficient to fulfill demand, causing increasing pressure in the talent market,” notes one respondent. Meanwhile, another respondent says that they “continue to see challenges around filling hourly positions.” In both cases, retention of talent appears to be an issue, often driven by pay. One respondent laments that it is “hard to fill jobs, despite significant pay increases.” Another notes that there is a “large workforce at relatively low wages who have many opportunities to switch jobs” and would likely concur with the respondent noting that “lower-level employees will go to other employers where they will get a salary bump.”

What are the top business issues on your board's agenda in the upcoming quarter?

(Respondents could select up to five issues.)

NACD Quarterly Survey: Q2 2024 (n=285)