[Corporations are scrambling to protect their senior executives as police warn of an elevated near-term threat against business leaders. Boards are reassessing security budgets. And CEOs are being told to delete their digital footprints.
The stunning killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan has shaken C-Suites across the country, forcing leaders to ask themselves uncomfortable questions about their own preparedness for a threat landscape that appears far more serious than many realized just a week ago.
Phones are ringing off the hook at top-dollar security firms to keep the captains of industry safe. “Corporate America is nervous. People are on high-alert,” said Keith Wojcieszek, global head of intelligence at Kroll.
Companies want to elevate their security posture. Healthcare is the target now, but who’s next?
The New York Police Department, in an intelligence report, said it believed Thompson’s killing was a “symbolic takedown” and could inspire others to act violently toward business leaders.
Outreach from companies is “way up” since the brazen shooting of Thompson, said Wojcieszek, a former senior official at the US Secret Service.
Security firm Global Guardian received 70 requests from concerned companies within the first 36 hours of the shooting – a huge spike, according to Seth Krummrich, a retired US Army Colonel who is now the company’s vice president.
“It’s a huge wake-up call. The mood changed dramatically in a very short period of time,” said Krummrich, whose firm protects corporate executives, their families, and residences from threats.
Even some executives of smaller companies are now considering personal security details, said Eduardo Jany, senior vice president of global security and safety at News Corp.
“There’s a lot of tension in the air right now. Even some fly-by-night companies are going to start investing in security,” said Jany.
One executive at a major bank told CNN that the UnitedHealthcare CEO killing made plain the risk facing senior leaders in Corporate America.
“The big learning is that if you want to kill someone, you can kill them. It’s really scary but true,” the executive said. “It seems crazy that we’re just figuring this out.”
The threats could come from anywhere and anyone.
The police have charged Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old with a prestigious education, with the killing. “He’s not Ted Kaczynski living in a cabin somewhere. He’s a guy who went through a similar upbringing that many corporate executives did,” said Krummrich.
Krummich has advised executives to delete as much of their digital footprints as possible, including floorplans to their home residences and information on where their children attend school.
Many firms will now increase corporate security personnel at offices and residences, deploy enhanced mail screening, and focus on public events executives are attending, said Fred Burton, executive director of protective intelligence at Ontic.
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