How Businesses Can Use PR As Part Of Their Cybersecurity Management

______________

Where money goes, crime follows. The digitalization of business makes it easy for cyber-criminals to use malware, cyberattacks, and phishing scams to target organizations. They don’t need to move an inch from their computer, and they can wreak havoc on organizations and individuals.

Cyberattacks became a trend in 2020, and the global economy suffered a trillion dollars in losses. Based on recent estimations, that number will increase tenfold by 2025. With so much money, confidential data, and reputation at stake, what can organizations do?

The first responders in such a situation are public relations teams. They’re not responsible for keeping the cybersecurity systems up and running. Instead, their role is directly responsible for maintaining the image of the organization they’re working for. Every business needs to include them in the risk management approach before, during, and after an attack.

How can PR help manage cyber breaches?

When a cyberattack happens, and millions of dollars get stolen, the money isn’t the biggest issue. It’s the company’s reputation that takes the biggest hit. It takes years to build a reputation and five minutes to lose it. That’s true for people and businesses alike. Constructing an image takes a lot of hard work. PR teams must understand how even a tiny bit of confidential data leaked or stolen can ruin a brand in the eyes of stakeholders and investors.

Education

Prevention is better than cure. PR teams must understand the potential damage a single cyberattack does. By working together with professionals, they can transfer knowledge to an entire company. Almost every breach happens due to human error. It’s essential to help other employees to detect suspicious emails, attachments, and malicious websites. Being proactive minimizes potential attacks.

Checklists

Checklists are amazing in times of crisis. Before a cybersecurity issue occurs, the PR and IT teams must develop a document that includes real-time updates on handling the situation. It’s better to be prepared for a problem that never happens rather than think of solutions in panic mode.

What are the actions PR teams can take when a breach happens?

Based on the current cybersecurity statistics, it’s not a matter of if. It’s a matter of when a breach will happen. Communication is crucial to ensure stakeholders, employees, and the public know what’s happening. Here’s what the PR teams should do.

Social media

Social media allows PR teams to send blitz information that the situation is under control. Of course, all sides will have questions, and social media is the best way to answer them. Replying to every comment and publishing an FAQ will ensure you control the narrative. Answering how and when the attack happened, who was affected, and what the company’s doing to mitigate it is necessary. Then, update the FAQ with more questions and answers based on public and private feedback.

Analysis and review

One thing is guaranteed after a cyberattack, the organization’s reputation will take a hit. The PR team must analyze and review how severe the situation is and what they can do to rebuild trust. Creating a recovery plan is step number one, and gaining the confidence of key stakeholders comes second. During this process, clients and the media will demand information, and it’s useful to have guidelines for sharing information.

Tips to prevent cyberattacks

When all is said and done, breaches usually boil down to phishing attacks or malware. These two culprits are well known, yet they keep sneaking their way into companies. Socially engineered attacks are evolving, and everyone can fall for them, even IT professionals.

Connecting to a public Wi-Fi once can lead to hackers finding out your business email and password. Downloading an attachment from your colleague could infect your laptop with malware.

Because people make mistakes, it’s essential for companies to have safety nets. The best safety net for personal and professional use is a combination of antivirus and VPN. An antivirus scans every download for malware, while a VPN keeps users private online and encrypts the connection.

A VPN router can handle multiple devices in a single plan, and the same thing goes for antivirus programs. This small addition could save a company 5 million dollars, which is the average cost of a data breach.

A few final words

The IT department is responsible for mitigating cybersecurity-related issues, but the PR team communicates them. Ensuring both teams are on the same page and have planned beforehand is crucial for the success of your organization.

News Feed Curated by:

The Storify News Times. | Erric Ravi 🤖

Welcome to Storifynews.com! The Storify News Times is one among the world’s leaders in online news and information delivery to users from time to time. It is a multi platform news website which has been started with a mission to serve as a forum for better understanding of the happenings going on around.

As an innovator of news, we serve as a host to exhibit the things happening across the world today, tomorrow, and for the decades to follow. We cover different news categories such technology, Hollywood, Bollywood, business, entertainment, politics, sports, Real Estate, movie news, culture, Health etc., of different countries available across the world such as Asia, National News, Europe, USA, Australia, South Africa, Singapore, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, California, Texas, Dubai and everything in between.