Communicating During a Cyber Attack

Posted by mctracy On May 17, 2023

Cyber-attacks are stressful for anyone involved as the process is strenuous and complicated, especially in regard to communication during and after a cyber-attack. Companies have a responsibility to communicate efficiently and safely to customers regarding compromised data, as well as communicating carefully with employees about cyber-hygiene.

Everyone in the company is responsible for smooth sailing prior to, during and after the attack whether it be with asking the right questions, taking the right precautions, or including the correct people in the conversation.

“With cyber issues specifically, it’s important to consider who is at the table. The C-suite, PR, legal and your board of directors should all be looped in on the processes you choose to follow and the questions they need to be prepared to ask when crisis hits.” (PR News).

Communication can be impaired by cyber-attacks, so how do companies ensure that communication is efficient and safe to customers and to employees when cyber-attacks occur? There are ways to get around this, including systems and policies to combat communication hurdles.

Blackberry recently announced their utilization of managed detection and response and critical communications platforms in their policies regarding communication during a cyber-attack.

“BlackBerry has announced a new integration that combines the award-winning MDR (managed detection and response) protection of CylanceGUARD® with secure CEM (critical event management) capabilities powered by BlackBerry® AtHoc®. In the event of a cyberattack, organizations that select a CylanceGUARD subscription with AtHoc features will benefit from secure, multi-channel internal and stakeholder communications for incident response actions, with the ability to alert, communicate and collaborate from within the CylanceGUARD platform — even when the usual communications infrastructure is compromised or unavailable.” (Blackberry Blog).

Be deliberate in your communication with customers. Announcements and updates need to be worded very carefully to ensure that the situation is clear to readers.

“Be careful about sharing information until it is confirmed, or at a minimum, acknowledge that the situation is fluid and more details will be shared as available so you don't have to walk back statements later on. You may not have all the information, or you may be limited in what you can share publicly, and that’s ok—but stakeholders will be looking to you for details and action.” (PR News).

Overall, be courteous and careful when it comes to communicating during and after a cyber-attack, whether it be to customers or employees. Everyone deserves accurate and helpful information.

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Sources:

Blackberry Blog. https://blogs.blackberry.com/en/2023/04/incident-response-communications-are-your-normal-channels-secure

PR News. https://www.prnewsonline.com/preparing-your-organization-for-communicating-during-a-cyber-attack/