Beyond Compliance: Driving Security Culture from the Top Down

In an exclusive interaction with Global Leaders Insights, Elizabeth Wu,  CEO of EDDi Technologies, discusses why cybersecurity must evolve beyond checklists and annual audits to become a core governance priorrity. She explains how rising regulatory scrutiny, insurance requirements, and digital dependency have made board-level oversight essential, not optional. Wu stresses that true resilience comes from visibility, accountability, evidence-based decision making, and a culture where leadership, not just IT, owns security. Her perspective reflects a defining shift: organizations that treat cybersecurity as a strategic discipline—not a compliance exercise—will earn trust, withstand disruption, and lead with confidence in an increasingly volatile digital era.

Leadership Guide for Boards & Executives in the New Era of Cyber Accountability

For more than twenty years, most organizations have approached cybersecurity as a checklist exercise. Policies are written once a year, evidence is collected for the auditor, a certification is awarded, and leadership assumes that the organization is protected. It is a comfortable narrative, but it is no longer a true one. Passing an audit confirms only that the organization met a minimum standard at a single moment in time. It does not confirm resilience. It does not confirm that threats are contained. It does not ensure safety.

The gap between compliance and real security has become impossible to ignore. Cyberattacks have grown more frequent and more sophisticated. Business operations are increasingly digital and more dependent on external suppliers. Regulatory expectations have expanded to include continuous oversight. Cyber insurance carriers now require evidence that an organization has implemented and maintained specific controls, not just documented them. Courts are asking executives directly to prove that they exercised reasonable oversight.

This new reality has created a leadership inflection point. Cybersecurity is no longer only an IT responsibility. It is an executive governance responsibility. The question is no longer, did we pass the audit. The question is, can we prove that we are secure. That proof depends on one factor above all others. A strong culture of security, built from the boardroom down.

A culture of security is not a slogan or a program. It is a leadership mindset that reshapes how decisions are made, how risks are communicated, and how responsibilities are assigned. It begins with an understanding that technical teams cannot carry the responsibility alone. Technology staff can execute work, but they cannot define business risk tolerance. They cannot approve budget allocations. They cannot set enterprise priorities. Without executive ownership, security remains reactive. Gaps widen over time. Disagreements occur between departments. What emerges is an environment where security is attempted but never fully achieved.

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Executives today are held accountable for this breakdown. Regulators expect boards to maintain continuous oversight, not once per year. Insurance carriers expect to see the maturity of controls over time. Clients expect transparency about how their information is protected. Courts expect to see documented, reasonable measures that align with accepted cybersecurity frameworks. When these expectations are not met, the liability shifts upward to the leadership team.

This new environment explains why several states have adopted Safe Harbor laws that reward organizations for implementing recognized cybersecurity frameworks such as CIS, NIST, ISO, and others. These laws are not intended to burden companies with more paperwork. They are intended to encourage leadership to build repeatable, measurable, and evidence-based programs that can stand up to legal scrutiny. These programs work when an organization has the culture to sustain them.

A strong security culture turns frameworks into real operational habits. CIS Controls, for example, succeed only when leadership understands what each control means, who is responsible for it, what data supports it, and how it impacts the business. A culture of security transforms CIS, NIST, and ISO from abstract documents into real workflows that guide daily decision making. Compliance becomes sustainable only when culture becomes the foundation.

Creating a security culture requires a structured, leadership-driven approach.

First, executives need visibility

Leaders cannot govern what they cannot see. Most organizations today still rely on fragmented updates from IT. These updates often contain technical language, incomplete information, and different interpretations of risk. A culture of security begins with clarity. Executives need a unified, real-time view of their security posture, the maturity of their controls, and the gaps that require attention. Only with visibility can leadership make informed decisions.

Second, accountability must be explicit

A culture of security breaks down when everyone assumes someone else is responsible. Frameworks like CIS include clear recommendations, but if no one is formally assigned responsibility, the work remains incomplete. A modern organization needs a defined RACI structure that identifies who is responsible, who is accountable, who must be consulted, and who must be informed. Without this structure, gaps remain hidden, and no one can prove that reasonable measures were taken.

Third, communication between IT and leadership must be continuous

Many of the failures in cybersecurity governance stem from a lack of shared language. IT speaks in technical terms. Executives think in financial and operational terms. Risk cannot be managed when the two groups do not understand each other. A true culture of security requires translation. It requires the ability to convert technical risks into business impacts so that decisions are aligned with the company’s priorities. When this alignment occurs, IT gains clarity and direction, while leadership gains confidence in the decisions being made.

Fourth, decisions must be supported by evidence

Safe Harbor laws and cyber insurance carriers are consistent in one requirement. Evidence. Not opinions. Not assumptions. Evidence. A culture of security creates a system where evidence is collected automatically, stored centrally, and presented in a format executives can use. This evidence becomes the organization’s legal protection. When a breach occurs, the question is not whether the company was perfect, but whether the company took reasonable steps consistent with accepted frameworks. Evidence is what proves that the organization acted responsibly.

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Fifth, the strategy must extend beyond compliance

Compliance is the lowest bar. It confirms only that the organization met a baseline requirement. A culture of security raises the bar. It focuses on resilience, operational continuity, financial exposure, risk reduction, and long-term trust. Compliance becomes an outcome of good governance, not the objective. Organizations that build a culture of security experience fewer incidents, shorter recovery times, lower insurance costs, and stronger client trust. Governance becomes the advantage.

Leadership plays the central role in all of this. A culture of security does not form organically. It is built intentionally by leaders who understand that cybersecurity is now a core element of business survival. It requires a commitment to transparency, a willingness to engage with technical issues, and an understanding that security is not a destination but a continuous process.

This is the future of cyber governance. Not checklists. Not binders. Not once a year audits. A leadership-driven culture that protects the enterprise, strengthens financial resilience, meets the expectations of regulators and insurers, and demonstrates to courts and clients that the organization took reasonable, responsible action.

In this new world, organizations that cultivate a culture of security will stand stronger, respond faster, and recover more reliably. Most importantly, they will be able to demonstrate one essential truth when it matters most. That their leaders acted with diligence, clarity, and responsibility. That is the standard of modern cybersecurity. That is what protects executives. That is what protects the organization.