But which work cultures will find it easier to effectively deploy countermeasures?
Informal ones, where everybody acts like first names buddies all the way to the CEO, where they believe they are invulnerable because all those pretend-equal underlings are invited to speak up when they sense something fishy? What if they don't sense anything?
Or formal environments, where authentication tools could be systematically added to the preexisting and deeply entrenched set of rituals?
"That guy is not just acting like a colonel, the device we now all have to hold while saluting confirms that the biometric checksum embedded in his uniform insignia matches and is signed with central command keys". Yes, that protocol is not in place, but if it was introduced it would actually work. Now try the same in an informal environment where everything is supposed to be solved through good personal relations. The exact same tools, deployed in a buddy-org, would only ever get used retroactively, for pushing blame down the hierarchy.
Because pockets of “Sir, I recognize you are my boss but you still need to do this properly through the regular channels” are, in my experience, more common in a non-authoritative setting then in an authoritative one (my familiarity is mostly with armies, not with Asian societies).
And if these bubbles do exist, I think it is easier for them to expand in a disorganized, distributed manner; unlike an authoritative society where everything like this must properly flow top down.
The problem in the informal culture is that insisting on formality (the authentication check can never not be a formality) is perceived as a signal "they don't like me". That's a huge incentive for cutting corners, both up and down the hierarchy. In an environment that prides itself in formality, it's at least possible to sell going through the motions as a sign of respect. The failure mode I'm talking about is not what's happening the day the boss doesn't have their keys (that's challenging in any environment, and certainly not easy on the authoritative end of the spectrum), but how likely it is that the absent keys would even come up, how often a check will actually happen. Lack of procedures is the defining quality of informal organizations.
When it's routine, the orderly refusal is not so much "but you have to do this properly" (underling ordering boss around) but "you know that I can't do that without.." (underling showing off being a good underling)
