In that case, I have good news! Well, good-ish. If this happens often enough, higher-ups sometimes get sick of being blind-sided by it. They start being pro-act

In that case, I have good news! Well, good-ish. If this happens often enough, higher-ups sometimes get sick of being blind-sided by it. They start being pro-active about addressing security issues and planning projects to pay down tech debt. Doesn't always work, but it's more likely to work with a far-sighted exec than a quarterly-minded one.