Security gaps are inevitable, but they don’t have to remain weak points. By recognizing where breakdowns occur and applying practical strategies, organizations can turn vulnerabilities into opportunities for stronger, more connected security.
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August 19, 2025 INSIDE THIS ARTICLE, YOU'LL FIND: |
Corporate security fails most often in the gray areas, the spaces between one team’s domain and another. For example, a cyber team might detect an unusual login from inside a secure facility after hours. Without alerting physical security, that clue could be missed until the intruder is on-site. Likewise, guards might report a visitor lingering near server racks but never pass that detail to those monitoring network activity. Even robust security programs can fail when travel, cyber, and physical teams operate in silos instead of sharing intelligence.
These vulnerabilities aren’t usually the result of negligence—they emerge when information isn’t shared, protocols aren’t aligned, and risk isn’t viewed as an interconnected whole. The gaps form quietly, often hidden by the day-to-day success of security operations, until a crisis exposes them. By then, the cost—financial, operational, and reputational—can be severe.
To build a truly resilient organization, security must be treated as an enterprise-wide responsibility that bridges cyber, physical, operational, and leadership domains. The first step is to identify where those gaps exist—and to close them before they are exposed by a crisis, whether that’s a deliberate attack, a natural disaster, or unexpected unrest.
6 Common Gaps in Corporate Security
Through years of working with clients and their security programs, Erick Turasz, VP of Strategic Partnerships at Global Guardian, has seen the same vulnerabilities surface repeatedly—often in organizations that otherwise appear well-protected. His observations reveal that the most damaging weaknesses are not always exotic new threats, but recurring oversights that persist because they are underestimated or ignored.
1. Poor communication between security functions
When different teams within the same organization operate in silos, critical intelligence often fails to reach the people who need it most.
“HR doesn’t talk with security, who doesn’t talk with travel/risk,” Turasz explains. “That lack of communication creates blind spots you don’t notice until something goes wrong.”
In practice, this can mean missed warning signs—such as HR knowing about a high-risk termination but not informing physical security, or travel teams failing to relay itineraries to those responsible for executive protection.
2. Overlooking the Digital-to-physical connection
An issue online doesn’t always stay as just a digital threat—it can have very real, physical consequences.
“One of the biggest gaps I see is the lack of understanding about how a threat can track you digitally to cause physical harm,” says Turasz. Exposed personally identifiable information (PII), public travel photos, or geotagged posts can all be exploited by malicious actors. This oversight is especially dangerous for executives and high-profile employees, where even seemingly harmless online data points can be pieced together to locate, monitor, or target them.
3. Inability to demonstrate program value
Security teams that cannot clearly show the impact of their work often struggle to secure funding. Without a tangible connection between security measures and business outcomes, budget requests are deprioritized in favor of more visibly revenue-driving projects.
Turasz warns that this gap keeps many organizations from investing in the preventative measures that could avoid costly incidents later. Over time, this resource shortfall compounds, leaving security postures stagnant as threats evolve.
4. Neglecting executive travel risk management
Travel—especially international travel—introduces a wide range of risks, from political instability and crime to health emergencies and targeted threats. Yet both professional and personal trips to high-threat regions often go unmonitored. Turasz notes that many organizations “don’t understand their own risk level based on employee travel to risky countries.” Without formal protocols for pre-trip assessments, itinerary tracking, and on-the-ground support, companies are left reacting to crises instead of preventing them.
5. Over-reliance on outdated or ineffective intelligence tools
Many organizations depend heavily on technology platforms or threat intelligence feeds that provide no more insight than a quick Google search. This overconfidence can lull decision-makers into thinking they have robust coverage when, in reality, they lack the actionable intelligence needed to prevent or respond to incidents.
Turasz has seen this type of reliance lead to delayed detection of threats, missed opportunities to intervene early, and a general complacency about operational readiness.
6. Gaps during organizational change
Mergers, acquisitions, leadership changes, and restructuring all introduce instability. Policies may shift, responsibilities can be unclear, and previously strong lines of communication may break down. During these periods, adversaries—whether cybercriminals, insider threats, or opportunistic actors—can exploit the confusion.
Without careful planning and integration, security can easily take a back seat to other priorities, widening vulnerabilities at a critical moment.
The Cost of Missed Gaps
The most dangerous thing about a security gap is not knowing it exists. By the time it’s discovered—through a breach, incident, or close call—the damage is already done.
Security failures of any kind—whether caused by a cyberattack, physical intrusion, or operational breakdown—can carry significant financial, reputational, and legal costs. The global average cost of a data breach alone in 2024 was $4.4 million, with even higher costs in sectors like healthcare, finance, and critical infrastructure, according to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report. But financial loss is only part of the equation. Operational downtime, legal exposure, stakeholder mistrust, and long-term brand damage can have lingering effects that are harder to repair.
The stakes rise when vulnerability is avoidable. Known risks—such as unmonitored employee travel to volatile regions, unpatched software, or siloed communication—become ticking time bombs when no one takes ownership of addressing them.
“If you can’t show the value of your security program or duty of care, you won’t get the budget you need,” Turasz warns, “and that’s when gaps stay open far too long.”
How to Identify and Close Security Gaps
Closing security gaps requires a deliberate, coordinated approach that sees the organization’s risk picture in full.
- Start with a comprehensive risk assessment. Go beyond checklists. Evaluate physical infrastructure, digital systems, employee behaviors, vendor dependencies, and crisis response capabilities. Update assessments after major changes like new office openings, mergers, or leadership shifts.
- Break down silos. Create clear communication channels and shared incident response plans between cyber security, physical security, HR, IT, and leadership. Conduct cross-functional tabletop exercises to expose disconnects before they cause damage.
- Engage leadership. Without executive-level buy-in, security initiatives often stall. Position security as a business enabler that protects revenue, operations, and reputation. Align key performance indicators with broader enterprise risk goals.
- Pressure-test your plans. Tabletop exercises, red team/blue team drills, and simulated incidents help reveal coordination gaps and decision-making challenges under pressure.
- Invest in proactive capabilities. Threat intelligence, travel risk monitoring, behavior analytics, and scenario-based planning can help spot and neutralize threats before they escalate. Turasz emphasizes the importance of having a capability that can action issues throughout the globe—ensuring the organization can respond rapidly no matter where employees are located or traveling. Avoid over-reliance on passive intelligence tools; the best defenses combine technology with expert human analysis and operational readiness.
Looking for clear next steps? A clear path for closing security gaps starts with three essential concepts:
- Assess: Conduct a holistic risk assessment across physical, cyber, operational, and travel domains.
- Align: Break down silos by unifying protocols, reporting lines, and intelligence sharing across all relevant teams.
- Act: Implement proactive capabilities and pressure-test your plans regularly to ensure they hold up under real-world conditions.
Security isn’t just about defending what you can see—it’s about anticipating what you can’t. Leaders who treat security as an interconnected, enterprise-wide discipline will not only close the gaps they have today but also prevent the ones that could cost them tomorrow. The smallest oversight can become the largest vulnerability, but with vigilance, alignment, and decisive action, those gaps can be closed before they are exploited.
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