The foundation problem: How a lack of accountability is destroying cybersecurity
The foundation problem: How a lack of accountability is destroying cybersecurity
Publish Date: 2026-02-13 07:04:00
Source Domain: www.csoonline.com
Real root cause analysis is hard. It requires asking “why” until you’re uncomfortable with the answers — the truths — about processes that don’t work, decisions that seemed reasonable at the time and assumptions that were wrong. It requires being willing to discover that you, as a leader, contributed to the problem through your action or inaction.
Surface-level analysis stops at the first convenient answer and never addresses the real why. But the cost of stopping too early is being actively measured in recurring incidents, customer churn and team demoralization, which contributes to team turnover as well. When the same types of problems keep happening, your team learns a lesson: leadership doesn’t actually want to fix things. They want to be seen going through the motions. Taking ownership means following the chain of causality until you find something you can actually fix, and then fixing it. That’s accountability.
The perfect hire fallacy
The Navy’s Nuclear Propulsion Program takes 18-year-olds with the right aptitudes and trains them to operate nuclear reactors in all corners of the globe in 18 months. These aren’t college graduates, and these aren’t people with years of experience. Just the right attitude and aptitude in someone, placed into a rigorous, structured training program that transforms them.
