Open-source analysis points to the highest level of targeting of senior corporate figures on record. The Security Executive Council, working with Mercyhurst University, logged 424 open-source incidents against private-sector executives between 2003 and late 2025. The line is not flat: incidents climbed sharply from 2023, and by October 2025 the year's total had already doubled all of 2024.
The mix matters for anyone planning protection. Physical activity accounts for around 85% of incidents, including assaults, kidnappings, stalking and protest-linked action, with cyber-enabled threats such as impersonation, doxxing, swatting and account compromise making up most of the rest. Roughly a third of all incidents ended in injury or death.
The target set is widening. CEOs remain the most-targeted role, but attacks on other senior leaders, including CFOs, founders and board members, are climbing, and the technology and finance sectors are over-represented. Targeting of female executives has risen sharply since 2021.
Operator implication: the threat is not confined to the diarised public appearance. Residences, commutes and family are in scope, and the online-to-offline pipeline means protective intelligence and OSINT monitoring now sit alongside the physical package rather than behind it. A programme built solely around the principal's job title, or solely around venue security, is covering the wrong ground.
