Disinformation, Reputation Attacks, and Physical Risk: The New Executive Threatscape 

Senior leaders today operate under far more than financial, operational, or strategic pressures — they are increasingly front-line targets. As geopolitical friction, social polarization, and digital amplification intensify, executives face a growing spectrum of threats from disinformation and reputational attacks to physical violence. The 2025 World Security Report underscores a hard truth: Executive protection must be integrated into corporate governance, risk management, and capital planning.

Investor expectations magnify this shift. Where once executive security was viewed as a peripheral expense, stakeholders now expect it to be part of the company’s resilience posture. The following excerpt illustrates both the scale of the rising threats and how boards and management must recalibrate security from reactive to strategic.

As reported by Samantha Schober in “Executive Security Threats Rising, World Security Report 2025 Finds” on SecurityInfoWatch:

“Concerns over the safety of senior business leaders are rising sharply, according to the 2025 World Security Report released today by Allied Universal and G4S. Nearly half (42%) of security chiefs at large global firms say threats of violence against executives have increased in the past two years.

The report, based on input from 2,352 chief security officers across 31 countries and 200 institutional investors managing more than $1 trillion in assets, highlights how both corporate leaders and shareholders view executive protection as a growing priority. Almost all investors surveyed (97%) said it is important for companies to allocate resources to executive security, with seven in 10 estimating that senior leadership represents at least 30% of a company’s overall value.

Misinformation and disinformation are emerging as significant drivers of risk. Three-quarters of companies reported being targeted by such campaigns last year, and 42% of security chiefs said false or misleading content motivates at least half of the threat actors against their organizations. Investors noted that activist groups using these tactics increasingly pose risks not only to facilities but also to executives themselves.

The financial impact of physical security incidents remains substantial. A quarter of surveyed security leaders reported revenue losses tied to such events in the past year, averaging $9 million per company. Collectively, losses approached $1 trillion across respondents — similar to the 2023 findings. Investors said an incident could reduce the market value of a listed company by as much as 32%, an increase from last year.”

Continue reading “Executive Security Threats Rising, World Security Report 2025 Finds” by Samantha Schober on SecurityInfoWatch. 

Why It Matters to You 

For executives, the threats you face personally today can become corporate liabilities tomorrow, whether through reputational damage, investor loss of confidence, or disruptions to leadership continuity. This report signals that executive protection is no longer a back-office security budget line — it's a component of competitive resilience.

Boards and executives must also reframe how they measure security’s ROI. Physical protection, digital reputation defense, and narrative control should be tied to brand value, risk exposure, and stakeholder trust. Security leaders are now as much strategic partners as tactical guardians.

Next Steps 

• Board/CEO: Elevate executive safety metrics (threats, incidents, response times) to board-level dashboards. 
  
• Risk/Legal/Corporate Security: Commission a comprehensive executive threat assessment (physical, digital, narrative) and gap map. 
  
• Security Operations: Strengthen scanning of disinformation, dark web disclosures, and social threat vectors affecting executive profiles. 
  
• Communications/PR: Develop rapid-response playbooks for reputation attacks targeted at executives. 
  
• Finance/Strategy: Model the potential value erosion from executive-targeted incidents and budget accordingly for mitigation measures.