Several years ago, during my training with the U.S. Secret Service’s Cyber Crime Task Force, we dove deep into the mechanics behind Business Email Compromise (BEC). One lesson stood out and continues to haunt me today, especially as AI-generated voices and video begin to muddy the waters of digital authenticity:
Leaders who rule by fear create an exploitable blueprint for attackers.
If your leadership style is command-and-demand, if your employees are conditioned to jump at every urgent request without question, then congratulations — you’ve just made it easier for cybercriminals to impersonate you.
The New Frontier: AI-Forged Authenticity
Until recently, most cyberattacks relied on spoofed emails or fake domains. But now, with generative AI capable of cloning your voice or face, we’re entering a terrifying new dimension of risk. Imagine this scenario: a team member receives a video call from someone who looks and sounds exactly like you. The “you” on the other end is panicked and demanding a wire transfer to fix a critical vendor issue. Given the urgency, your employee complies.
Only it wasn’t you.
It was AI.
In this new paradigm, the battleground isn’t just technology — it’s trust.
The Culture of Fear Becomes a Liability
Back in that Secret Service course, instructors emphasized how BEC attacks prey on familiarity. When subordinates are used to being barked at or micromanaged, a panicked “do it now” request — even if suspicious — feels normal. This dynamic is ripe for abuse in the age of AI-powered impersonation.
So let me say this plainly: If your team is afraid to question you, they’ll also be afraid to challenge a deepfake of you.
What Leaders Must Do Now
If you’re a business owner, C-level exec, or manager, this is your call to action: Create a list of things you will never ask your employees to do — especially over phone, email, or video. Document it. Circulate it. Enforce it.
Examples:
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“I will never ask you to transfer funds without a second set of eyes.”
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“I will never demand credentials or access in an urgent message.”
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“All financial approvals must go through multi-person validation.”
Yes, this adds friction. Yes, it slows things down. But security and convenience have always been in tension — and in this fight, speed is the enemy of safety.
Process as Protection, Not Bureaucracy
You can still have flexibility without chaos. Build systems where approvals are quick but accountable — and where process isn’t seen as optional for executives. When leaders bypass security protocols under the guise of “executive privilege,” they’re not being decisive — they’re undermining the very foundation of cyber resilience.
AI doesn’t break rules — it exploits the people who do.
The Human Layer is the New Firewall
Technology alone won’t save us. You can invest in voice authentication, biometric logins, and behavioral AI analytics — and you should. But if your culture doesn’t support questioning authority or pausing to verify, then all that tech is a house on sand.
Security starts with people.
If your team is trained, empowered, and safe to challenge suspicious behavior — even if it appears to come from the top — then you’ve already hardened one of your most vulnerable attack surfaces.
Final Thought
We can talk another day about what happens when AI knows your policies and procedures. That’s a whole different beast.
But today, the question is simple:
Does your team know when it’s okay to say “no” to you?
Because if they don’t, one day they won’t say no to your clone, either.