A new report commissioned by Tanium and Nasdaq finds that 90% of corporate executives admit that they can’t read a cybersecurity report and up to 40% of corporate executives do not feel personally responsible for cybersecurity for their organization. The report was the culmination of a survey of 1,530 nonexecutive directors and C-Suite executives in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Japan and the Nordic countries. Following the issuance of the report, the chief security officer at Tanium said “they’re really just placing their heads in the sand right now.”

Further, the report concludes that executives do not feel that they are prepared to handle a major cyber-attack, and are primarily delegating data security to the organization’s IT department.

Cyber intrusions and attacks are occurring with intense acceleration and sophistication. Governance of cybersecurity is a critical risk management strategy for every organization. The report shows that the C-Suite and board must get their heads out of the sand, educate themselves about cybersecurity and take measures to protect the organization’s data. The risk is not going to go away if you ignore it.