Insights / Executive Protection

Executive Security Is Expanding Beyond the CEO. Here’s What Boards Should Get Right

By Warren Pulley · November 8, 2026

Corporate executive protection is no longer a CEO perk. New proxy data show companies extending security to more senior leaders and adding digital protection. The lesson for boards is that spending should follow a threat assessment, because risk follows decisions and visibility, not job titles.

What do the numbers show?

Compensation consultancy Pay Governance reviewed S&P 500 proxy statements filed through June 15, 2026, covering fiscal 2025.¹ Its findings include:

• The share of S&P 500 companies providing CEO personal security rose from 35% to 54% year over year.
• About 47% now provide personal security to at least one other named executive officer, up from fewer than 20% in fiscal 2023 and 2024.
• The number of non-CEO named executives receiving more than $100,000 in personal security rose from 18 to 57.
• Disclosures increasingly mention digital executive protection, cybersecurity monitoring, online privacy services, personal data removal, home network monitoring, and independent risk assessments.

Pay Governance links the trend to the December 2024 killing of a healthcare insurance executive, after which many large companies commissioned outside security reviews. It also notes the SEC is reconsidering whether executive security should be treated as a "perk" for disclosure purposes, with no specific changes outlined yet.

Security Magazine's 2026 Security Benchmark Report, published November 3, adds context from the security side.² Asked to describe their executive protection programs, 21% of respondents said they have no formal program and 7% described a fully mature, globally coordinated one. Travel security and executive protection tied for fourth among respondents' top concerns.

My take: protect the exposure, not the title

These numbers match what I see. The executive who closes a plant, raises a price, or leads a controversial deal can become the focus of a grievance overnight, whatever their rank. The data showing protection spreading below the CEO tells me boards are starting to recognize that.

But spending is not the same as protection. The weakest programs I see share three traits: protection that stops at the office door, predictable published schedules, and no system for noticing concerning behavior before someone shows up. Attacks on executives have tended to happen in the exposure windows: the sidewalk, the arrival, the event, the home.

What should boards and security leaders do?

1. Start with an assessment. Pay Governance's own advice to compensation committees is to ground programs in a formal, periodic security assessment. Assess who might want to harm a specific executive, and why, before deciding on headcount.
2. Build one front door for concerns. Threatening emails, odd calls asking about schedules, and comments to front-desk staff should all reach the same team.
3. Manage the calendar. Published speaking schedules and earnings-day appearances are research gifts to a hostile observer. Decide what must be public.
4. Cover home and travel. Residential reviews, advance work for events, and travel planning matter as much as the office lobby.
5. Reduce the digital footprint. Personal data removal and privacy controls, now common in proxy disclosures, are among the cheapest measures available.
6. Review after major events. High-profile attacks can inspire imitators. Treat the weeks afterward as a period of heightened monitoring.

Further reading from my books

Targeted brings behavioral threat assessment and executive protection together in one method, from the first concerning email to the detail at the door. The Protective Detail covers advance work, arrivals and departures, protective intelligence, and hiring protection well. For the online side, read Executive Protection in the Digital Age.

Sources

1. Pay Governance, “Executive Security and Protection Continues to Expand,” Aug. 27, 2026
2. Security Magazine, “2026 Security Benchmark Report,” Nov. 3, 2026

This is general information and commentary, not legal advice. Facts are as reported by the sources above on the dates shown.