Senior executives are operating in a threat environment that has changed dramatically—and dangerously. Once considered isolated incidents, targeted violence, arson, harassment, and doxing directed at corporate leaders are now emerging as a persistent enterprise risk with implications for governance, reputation, and continuity.

Our new thought paper, Managing Physical & Security Risks for Executives, contains insights about how leading organizations are responding as executive safety evolves from a “personal security issue” into a board‑level risk management priority.

Download the thought paper (PDF) to explore how organizations are rethinking executive protection — and why waiting to react may no longer be an option. An ADA-compliant version (Word) is also available for download at the bottom of this webpage.

What You’ll Learn

Drawing on observations from enterprise risk management (ERM) leaders across industries, this paper explores:

• Escalation of executive physical security risk
  How polarization, social media amplification and blurred digital‑physical threats are turning executives into high‑visibility targets.
• Shifts from reactive to proactive protection
  How the use of structured risk tools like Bow Tie Analysis can help to anticipate both attacks and downstream consequences.
• Expansion to include “cyber‑physical” threat model
  Why attackers often exploit personal digital data — email, social media, travel disclosures — to enable physical harm or coercion.
• Practical mitigation strategies organizations are adopting today
  Why commitment to hardened infrastructure and intelligence monitoring involves executive cyber‑shielding and crisis response integration.
• Governance, fiduciary, and tax considerations boards can’t ignore
  Why executive security is increasingly viewed as a business necessity rather than a personal perk.

Why This Matters to Boards, Executives and Risk Leaders

Executive safety is no longer solely about protection — it is about organizational resilience. A single incident involving senior leadership can trigger operational disruption, reputational damage, legal exposure and loss of stakeholder confidence.

The thought paper helps boards, executives, ERM leaders, general counsel and security professionals understand:

• Where traditional security models fall short
• How governance gaps amplify risk
• What “disciplined readiness” looks like in today’s threat landscape

Who Should Read This Paper

• Board members and risk committees
• CEOs and C‑suite executives
• Chief Risk Officers and ERM leaders
• General counsel and corporate secretaries
• Corporate security and intelligence professionals
• Higher‑education and healthcare administrators facing open‑access environments

Downloadable Resources

About the Author

Bruce C. Branson, is an Alumni Distinguished Professor of Accounting and Associate Director of the ERM Initiative in the Poole College of Management at NC State University. His teaching and research is focused on enterprise risk management and financial reporting and includes an interest in the use of derivative securities and other hedging strategies for risk reduction and risk sharing. He also has examined the use of various forecasting and simulation tools to form expectations used in financial statement audits and in earnings forecasting research. He earned his Ph.D. at Florida State University.