Your organization has just been hit with a cyber security breach. Now, it needs to focus on the steps necessary to rebuild, redirecting company focus and becoming more effective at dealing with these types of issues.
The best thing you can do to successfully move your company forward after a security breach is to learn from the experience so the same mistakes are not repeated.
For some help with rethinking your strategy after a security breach, here are a few activities to consider, courtesy of Liz Zarins, assistant account executive at 5W Public Relations and a contributor to PR News' Book of Crisis Management Strategies Vol. 8.
- Review the organization’s cyber security effort. Perform routine security assessments, update software regularly and enforce strict online regulations for all company associates.
- Increase internal training. Educate employees on phishing scams and other mistakes that can lead to a breach, increase IT’s security training by offering online tutorials and other free resources and practice response methods through security breach drills.
- Place more value on internal communication. Frequent communication between PR and IR minimizes the opportunity for something to go unnoticed.
- Reassess your crisis plan. Plan to reevaluate your organization’s crisis plan to respond to a security breach every six months to a year. Take time to add security capabilities and communication tactics, remove outdated protection systems and incorporate lessons learned from other organization’s breaches.
For more help with handling PR crises, check out PR News' Book of Crisis Management Strategies Vol. 8.
Follow Brian Greene on Twitter: @bw_greene