The tragic fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on December 4 in Midtown Manhattan shocked the nation—and especially the business and corporate community—with its brazenness, coldness, and cruelty. Beyond just this single incident, recent news suggests that executives and senior politicians have been increasingly targeted for violence as of late, with President Trump having been targeted by the Iranian government and members of his transition team having received bomb threats.

These and other events serve as a powerful reminder of the need for crisis management response plans. And, specifically, they have left the political branches as well as corporate America reassessing the need for executive security to try to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future. In an era when executives’ movements (including flight travel) can be tracked more easily than ever and social media and the internet have increasingly been used to channel anger towards businesses, this renewed focus on safety may be more than justified especially when viewed under the penumbra of the business judgment rule.