US CEOs Are More Worried About Cybersecurity Than a Possible Recession (fortune.com)

With markets uncertain, many onlookers might think a recession is on the way, whether that's most CFOs in the world or voters in the United States. But domestic CEOs don't find heavy economic headwinds their biggest external business worry, according to a new survey by the Conference Board. Instead, it's cybersecurity followed by new competitors. Risk of a recession is third. From a report: After high-profile data breaches experienced over the last two years by such companies as Marriott, Equifax, and Uber, that might seem understandable. But U.S. CEOs stand in stark contrast to those of the rest of the world. Cybersecurity was the sixth most pressing issue for chief executives in Europe. It was seventh in Latin America, eighth in Japan, and 10th in China. Regarding concerns over a potential recession, Europe put that in second place, while Japan, China, and Latin America all rated it number one.

Comments

Pepperidge Farms Remembers

[Ol Olsoc]

When CEO's weren't worried about a recession leading up to the 2007 Great recession.

Might want to be worried about both, my bois.

Re:Pepperidge Farms Remembers

[ShanghaiBill]

Their arses are covered for a recession by golden handshakes/parachutes... A cyber security breach may lead them to being dismissed without their full payment.

This makes sense. If a company loses money in a recession, it is not the CEO's fault. One person didn't cause the recession, and the best a company can do is have enough financial cushion to ride it out. But a breach is preventable, and the buck stops with the CEO, so they should be held accountable.

Re:Pepperidge Farms Remembers

[ranton]

In 2007, the crash was the result of repackaged bad mortgage debt traded like it was good debt.

There are many more scenarios than just a debt crisis which could cause our next recession. Inflation hasn't been a problem even with significant stimulus, but the causes of inflation tend to lag and can be hard to fight so runaway inflation is still a legitimate concern. Corporate debt is over 50% higher as a percentage of GDP today than it was in 2007, caused by incredibly cheap interest rates, which can certainly cause small dips in the economy to have much larger ripple effects. Higher inflation which is generally combated with higher interest rates would exacerbate this problem. And then there are always trade wars, which we are already seeing on a very small scale without many responsible parties in power to combat if it gets out of control.

I'm not saying I think another great recession is likely, but there are certainly many potential causes of one on the horizon.

CEOs don't care about either one...

[Anonymous Coward]

In my experience working with C levels, they don't give a crap about either one.

Scenario 1: A massive cyberattack. All their source code, info on people, user accounts with decoded passwords, credit cards, payroll, etc., now are residing in a Lower Elbonian database public to the world. The C-levels short their stock, make the announcement that everything is hosed, laugh all the way to the bank, and toast the downed company on their new yachts. Insider trading? Not prosecuted these days.

Scenario 2: A massive recession. Simple. Bailout from the tax payers if a financial institution, pay themselves some nice golden parachute bonuses, and then go visit the shipwright for the new yacht.

Either way, if the US and Europe descend into anarchy, they just move to another safe place. There are always South American and African countries who will take them.