Fear in the C-Suite after UnitedHealthcare CEO gunned down

By Matt Egan, CNN

New York (CNN) — 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 last week 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,” Keith Wojcieszek, global head of intelligence at Kroll, told CNN in a phone interview.

“Companies want to elevate their security posture. Healthcare is the target now but who’s next?” Wojcieszek said.

The New York Police Department, in an intelligence report obtained by CNN Tuesday, 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, Eduardo Jany, senior vice president of global security and safety at News Corp., said in a phone interview on Tuesday.

“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, who also works as a consultant for other major companies.

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,” said the executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “It seems crazy that we’re just figuring this out.”

The threats could come from anywhere and anyone.

Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old charged with killing Thompson, went to a prestigious private high school and received an Ivy League education.

“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, referring to the infamous Unabomber. “This is a new paradigm.”

‘A watershed moment’

Krummrich said he 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.

“This is a watershed moment,” said Burton, a former US Secret Service official who later worked at the Diplomatic Security Service, the security agency of the US State Department.

Security experts told CNN there is significant concern that this fatal shooting may not be a one-off, especially given the positive reaction the killing received from some on social media.

“The chance of copycat events rises dramatically. Think about pre-and post-Columbine for school shootings,” said Krummrich. “I am very concerned about what precedence this sets going forward. That’s what is keeping me up at night.”

Jany, the News Corp. security executive, said he’s worried about just how much attention Mangione is receiving following his arrest on Monday.

“There are reports that girls are fawning over this guy. This level of notoriety risks triggering copycats. And let’s face it, some business leaders are vulnerable,” Jany said.

Backlash against ‘corporate greed’

The fatal shooting of Thompson appeared to be driven by anger against the health insurance industry and against “corporate greed” as a whole, according to the NYPD’s intelligence report.

“This rhetoric may signal an elevated threat facing executives in the near-term, with the shooting itself having the capability to inspire a variety of extremists and grievance-driven malicious actors to violence,” the NYPD report said.

Bill George, former CEO of medical device maker Medtronic, said he’s alarmed by the public reaction to the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting.

“We’re living in a society where we’ve unleashed violent forces. Companies are going to take this extremely seriously,” said George, who is an executive fellow at the Harvard Business School.

An expensive proposition

Experts say the UnitedHealthcare killing made clear that the security blanket that protects many top CEOs should be extended to their lieutenants.

Thompson led UnitedHealthcare, the health insurance division within UnitedHealth Group, the corporate parent and insurance behemoth. Thompson was little known to the public, although he led a unit that brought in almost $300 billion in revenue last year alone.

Many other corporations within finance, media, technology and elsewhere have division CEOs who are crucial to business operations yet don’t receive the security protections that the top CEO does.

“You must have security for all of your senior executives – and even your board members,” said George.

That’s easier said than done. Some senior executives may not want to deal with the hassle and attention that extra security could bring.

“CEOs don’t want to live in a world where they go to their son’s baseball game and there must be security present,” said George.

It’s also extremely expensive to extend the security blanket.

Security firms often provide extensive protections to keep executives safe, including physical security guards, online threat monitoring and analysis, cybersecurity defenses, at-home security and protection for spouses and other family members.

The unnamed bank executive told CNN that his firm has a war room that examines online threats – some of which are death threats that name executives and family members.

Some companies may not have the resources, however, to beef up security to meet the evolving threat.

“Security is a sunk cost. It doesn’t make companies money, so it’s an easy place to cut at budget time,” said Krummrich, the Global Guardian executive. “You can ride the risk and hope nothing happens. But if it does, you have a much bigger problem emotionally, financially and optics-wise for the brand than if you invest in security up front.”

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CNN’s John Miller contributed to this report