The Myth of Security Culture: Can It Really Exist?

"Culture eats strategy for breakfast." - Peter Drucker

But what happens when security tries to sit at that table?

In the cybersecurity industry, the phrase "security culture" has been marketed as the silver bullet to reducing human risk. The idea? Embed security deep within organizational values, norms, and daily workflows, transforming employees into the first line of defense against cyber threats. But let's stop and ask – is this practical, sustainable, or even realistic?

Do CISOs Really Believe in Security Culture?

Talk to a handful of CISOs, and you'll find skepticism behind the buzzword. For many, security culture feels like a feel-good concept that rarely translates into measurable outcomes. Building firewalls, running penetration tests, and implementing endpoint detection make logical sense – they are controllable, quantifiable, and yield tangible results. But fostering an elusive, behavior-driven culture feels slippery.

In a study by WEF (2023), it was revealed that 95% of security breaches stem from human error. If culture was the answer, why do these numbers persist? CISOs often view security culture initiatives as high-effort, low-return projects, drowned in employee apathy. It's hard enough to get employees to reset their passwords, let alone instill security-conscious behavior across every tier of the organization.

Can Security Be Culture?

Here lies the fundamental flaw – can security truly be part of organizational culture? Culture, by definition, is organic, driven by shared beliefs and rituals. It's built over decades, nurtured by leadership, and shaped through storytelling, success, and failure.

Security, on the other hand, is rigid. It thrives on rules, boundaries, and compliance. Employees often perceive security protocols as obstructive, impeding productivity rather than enhancing it. Asking individuals to prioritize security over convenience often backfires. Just recall the time employees bypassed multi-factor authentication (MFA) by using shared devices to save time.

Think about it:

But is this the whole picture? Consider the possibility that security doesn't have to stand in opposition to organizational culture—it can complement it. What if leadership wove security into the fabric of daily operations, championing it as a shared responsibility rather than a set of rigid rules? Could security become as valued as innovation in a marketing team or as essential as results for a sales team?

Ultimately, this brings us back to the core question: Can Security Be Culture? Now it’s your turn to decide

Real-World Reality Check: Culture or Compliance?

Consider major breaches in recent history. Equifax, Target, and even Facebook – all giants with robust security measures and internal awareness campaigns, so compliance achieved. Yet breaches happened. These were not failures of technology but failures in behavior. Employees skipped steps, misconfigured systems, or ignored warning signs, so security culture was missing!

A particularly glaring example is the Capital One data breach (2019). A misconfigured web application firewall led to over 100 million records being exposed. The misconfiguration wasn't a lack of technology but an oversight – a breakdown in process and vigilance. No amount of posters, slogans, or security awareness days could have prevented it.

The reality is clear: while compliance sets the foundation, true resilience lies in embedding security into the organizational culture—making it a shared value, not just a checked box. Without this cultural shift, compliance alone will always fall short.

The Hidden Challenges to Building Security Culture

Creating and sustaining a strong security culture isn’t just about awareness campaigns and policies; it’s also about navigating the many challenges that threaten its stability.

In industries with high attrition rates, maintaining any long-term cultural initiative—security or otherwise—is a constant struggle. When employees leave, they take valuable institutional knowledge with them, leaving gaps that new hires take months to fill. Frequent turnover can create a revolving door effect, where the organization is perpetually onboarding rather than embedding core security behaviors.

Beyond turnover, role-specific silos also present a challenge. When security protocols aren’t uniformly applied across departments, gaps form, leading to inconsistent adoption. For instance, one department may prioritize security measures, while another views them as secondary to operational goals, weakening the organization’s overall security posture.

Leadership transitions further strain security culture. Changes in key roles can disrupt consistent messaging and dilute the emphasis on security as a shared organizational value. Without strong, stable leadership, initiatives can lose momentum and fail to resonate across the workforce.

Finally, the security teams themselves aren’t immune to these challenges. Burnout and staff shortages among security professionals add another layer of complexity, making it difficult to sustain proactive efforts or respond effectively to emerging threats.

These combined factors—turnover, silos, leadership shifts, and burnout—highlight the fragility of security culture. Building a resilient, lasting culture requires addressing these underlying issues, not just reinforcing policies.

Building Security Culture – A Pipe Dream?

Building a security culture may seem challenging, but with the right strategies, it’s far from impossible. Take Google’s approach as an example: their internal policy encourages employees to report potential phishing emails without fear of repercussions—a clear demonstration of how the right incentives can lead to meaningful results.

This perspective in the quote above highlights a practical truth—security culture isn’t about perfection; it’s about consistency and integration. While embedding lasting behaviors may take time, organizations don’t need decades to see results. By aligning security with daily workflows and focusing on measurable behavioral change, businesses can take immediate steps toward a robust security culture. It’s not a dream—it’s a process, and it starts with leadership, engagement, and the right tools to support the journey.

What Destroys Security Culture?

Even if a company manages to build a fledgling security culture, it can be shattered overnight.

• Leadership Hypocrisy: If executives sidestep security protocols, employees will follow suit.
• Operational Pressure: Tight deadlines force employees to bypass security measures to "get the job done."
• Burnout and Fatigue: Cybersecurity fatigue leads to employees ignoring alerts or recycling weak passwords.
• High Turnover: Frequent employee exits disrupt continuity, forcing organizations to start from scratch.
• Lack of Reinforcement: Without constant reinforcement, security awareness programs fade into the background.

Counterarguments: Can Security Culture Survive?

Some skeptics question whether security culture can truly exist, suggesting that what many organizations call "culture" is merely training or compliance. However, examples from leading organizations show that security culture can indeed survive—and even thrive—when approached strategically.

Take Amazon, for instance. By mandating security training for all new hires and embedding it into their onboarding process, they set a foundation for security awareness from day one. Similarly, Dropbox leverages gamification to engage employees in phishing simulations, turning routine security practices into something interactive and memorable. These efforts are more than just training—they’re building blocks of a culture.

Real culture, however, goes beyond structured programs. It manifests in everyday actions, influencing what employees do even when no one is watching. A thriving security culture is evident when employees instinctively report suspicious emails without being prompted or choose to encrypt sensitive data as second nature.

The success of such a culture relies on repetition, reinforcement, and leadership. When security behaviors are consistently modeled by leaders, rewarded by the organization, and integrated into daily workflows, they become habits. Over time, these habits evolve into values shared across the organization—making security not just a process, but a part of how work gets done.

So, can security culture survive? Yes, it can. With deliberate effort, strategic initiatives, and leadership that emphasizes security as a shared responsibility, security culture can not only survive but become a defining strength of any organization.

The Bottom Line: Should We Rethink the Concept?

Building a strong security culture isn’t just a possibility—it’s a necessity for organizations navigating today’s evolving threat landscape. But how do we design and foster a security culture that thrives?

Operationalized Security – Embed security processes into workflows naturally (e.g., automatic MFA without user intervention).

Simplification – Reduce friction by making security seamless and invisible.

Behavior Nudges – Use behavioral science to reinforce secure habits, not through fear but through convenience.

Security culture is more than just policies and training—it’s about embedding security as a shared value, influencing decisions and actions across every level of the organization. When designed thoughtfully, security culture becomes a framework that aligns organizational goals with secure behaviors, creating an environment where protection is both intentional and instinctive.

Final Thought: Maybe the right question isn't, "Can we build a security culture?" but rather, "How do we design security that fits into the culture we already have?"