If your brand has any online presence at all, then chances are you’ve heard of the major security flaw dubbed Heartbleed. Or at least you should have heard about it. As data security breaches go, this one is being considered by many IT professionals to be one of the worst security flaws the digitized world has yet experienced. Two-thirds of the world’s servers are susceptible and the personal data of millions of users may be exposed.
There are those who can better explain the details about Heartbleed’s origin and how to combat it. Your job as a communicator is to get the message out to your clients and customers about what your brand is doing to keep their data safe.
There are three key points to keep in mind when communicating publicly about a data security problem.
- Let them know you’re on the case. Use social media channels to get the message out that you are aware of the problem, and that you are actively working on a solution. And let your customers and clients know that protecting their data is your primary concern.
- Send out regular updates. It’s important to keep people informed. They are more likely to be reassured if you keep them in the loop. Send out new messages at regular intervals. Offer any new information you have. If you don’t have anything new to add, then say what you’ve already said in a different way.
- Be genuine. Don’t be a faceless voice in your messaging. Be open and conversational. You may even want to offer some visuals of your team hard at work correcting the problem.
On a closing note, be sure to stay in touch with your IT team in order to get an accurate picture of your brand’s situation. Make sure you’re getting internal updates from your technicians so that your external updates to your clients and customers are accurate.
Follow Richard Brownell: @RickBrownell