If the culture of the company is the heart & soul of an organization, then the respective security culture is the omnipresent guardian. More than procedures and policies put in place, the security culture of an organization is referred to as the social operating system for influencing and guiding employees towards integrating security behaviors as well as awareness into the day-to-day lives.

As security culture of the organization starts breaking down, whether inside or between the security teams, it could lead to the development of a toxic environment of implementing cyber security practices, finger-pointing, and cynicism.

As per the reports by a Forrester research on organizational security, it is revealed that a toxic security culture will lay the respective grounds for the CISOs. Another advancement for the role of CISO for the year 2021 by Forrester is estimated that a toxic culture –that will be becoming more public due to the overall increase in legal actions, would lead to the contracts of the CISOs getting terminated. Some of the major causes for toxicity in the environment of cyber security are related to the failure in the overall leadership –implying that a positive culture in the given scenario is going to be more crucial than ever.

Top Signs of a Toxic Security Culture

If the culture of the company is the heart & soul of an organization, then the respective security culture is the omnipresent guardian. More than procedures and policies put in place, the security culture of an organization is referred to as the social operating system for influencing and guiding employees towards integrating security behaviors as well as awareness into the day-to-day lives.

As security culture of the organization starts breaking down, whether inside or between the security teams, it could lead to the development of a toxic environment of implementing cyber security practices, finger-pointing, and cynicism.

As per the reports by a Forrester research on organizational security, it is revealed that a toxic security culture will lay the respective grounds for the CISOs. Another advancement for the role of CISO for the year 2021 by Forrester is estimated that a toxic culture –that will be becoming more public due to the overall increase in legal actions, would lead to the contracts of the CISOs getting terminated. Some of the major causes for toxicity in the environment of cyber security are related to the failure in the overall leadership –implying that a positive culture in the given scenario is going to be more crucial than ever.

Top Signs of a Toxic Security Culture

Industry leaders indicate some of the telltale signs that the security culture in your organization is toxic. Here are some:

  • Playing the Blame Game: When some major incident occurs, the overall focus in the given toxic environment would instantly go to whom to blame. The organization starts looking for a scapegoat –to fire someone. You should analyze the average tenure of the given leadership. If it turns out to be less than three years, then this could be a warning sign.

 

  • Growth of Cynicism: Cynicism can be regarded as the easiest toxic behavior related to security that can be spotted. If you hear people talk about life or management in a cynical tone, then this is a red flag by all means. It reveals that there is distress. Moreover, it also indicates that people have the feeling that they do not have any control over the outcomes for which they have been made accountable. When people are not in control of managing things, then it starts affecting their overall perspective.

 

  • Increase in Internal Vulnerabilities: As the security culture starts growing awry, parameters will help in revealing tell-tale signs like the overall increase in internal vulnerabilities. It is known that around 20 percent of breaches tend to happen within organizations –coming directly from the employees. This could be the sign that employees are either not informed or simply do not care about the overall security hygiene. Higher turnover and attrition rates also pinpoint to a level of dissatisfaction in the organization.

 

It is high time that organizations should pay attention to maintaining a culture of data security to win the trust of both employees as well as the respective customers.

Industry leaders indicate some of the telltale signs that the security culture in your organization is toxic. Here are some:

  • Playing the Blame Game: When some major incident occurs, the overall focus in the given toxic environment would instantly go to whom to blame. The organization starts looking for a scapegoat –to fire someone. You should analyze the average tenure of the given leadership. If it turns out to be less than three years, then this could be a warning sign.

 

  • Growth of Cynicism: Cynicism can be regarded as the easiest toxic behavior related to security that can be spotted. If you hear people talk about life or management in a cynical tone, then this is a red flag by all means. It reveals that there is distress. Moreover, it also indicates that people have the feeling that they do not have any control over the outcomes for which they have been made accountable. When people are not in control of managing things, then it starts affecting their overall perspective.

 

  • Increase in Internal Vulnerabilities: As the security culture starts growing awry, parameters will help in revealing tell-tale signs like the overall increase in internal vulnerabilities. It is known that around 20 percent of breaches tend to happen within organizations –coming directly from the employees. This could be the sign that employees are either not informed or simply do not care about the overall security hygiene. Higher turnover and attrition rates also pinpoint to a level of dissatisfaction in the organization.

 

It is high time that organizations should pay attention to maintaining a culture of data security to win the trust of both employees as well as the respective customers.