Digital privacy of U.S. executives was analyzed in a recent report by Picnic. Research found the publicly exposed digital footprints of over 10,000 C-level executives across 65 industries and determined that nearly 100% have had information exposed in a data breach, with an average of 43 data breaches or compilations per executive.

Ninety-four percent of C-Suite members have had cleartext credentials (CTC) exposed, often in the form of unencrypted passwords, with an average of 4.3 exposed CTCs per executive. While prior corporate breaches sometimes contribute to these exposures, 84% of exposed chief executive passwords arise from breaches of personal accounts.

The potential impact of these breaches isn’t limited to the circulation of usernames and passwords – the research also found exposed digital footprints that can lead directly to executives’ front doors. Over 93% of C-Suite members have a current or former home address visible via data brokers, with an average of 11 data broker profiles per executive.

The C-Suite roles with the most data exposures were:

• Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) have fallen victim to the most breaches and have more exposed CTC than any other C-level role.
• Chief Revenue Officers’ (CROs) contact information is the most often exposed, making them vulnerable to social engineering attacks and identity theft.
• General Counsels (GCs) have the most data broker profiles due to regulatory transparency, exposing them to increased risk.
• Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) were most likely to have exposed CTCs from corporate breaches, making them susceptible to credential theft and business email compromise.

The industries whose C-Suites have the most data exposures were:

• Healthcare CEOs have the most personal data exposure, and other healthcare C-level roles lead all industries with exposed personal phone numbers.
• C-level executives in the computer software industry experience the most personal and total breaches.
• Higher Education executives lead in corporate breaches and trail only the software industry in overall breaches and exposed CTCs.
• Government entities have the most data broker profiles, raising concerns about potential misuse of this information.