It’s a sad but true reality of the 21st Century that companies and governments must make cyber-crime part of their crisis communications plans.
There has long been paranoia in the international business, information technology, and law enforcement communities surrounding hackers’ ability to invade private enterprise databases – and as such, best practices for communicating during such an event are proliferating every aspect of the global economy.
But as a recent report from the British Government indicates, the potential of state-sponsored terrorists hacking into nuclear power plants and other utilities – not to mention pipelines, port security operations, air traffic control systems, or even traffic light networks – signals the need for government to follow the crisis communications template provided by business.
In order to diminish the chaos and fear that acts of cyber-terrorism are designed to incite, there must be a detailed internal and external communications function included in any cyber-terrorism plan developed for a government or quasi-public institution.
After all, if private companies are putting so much thought into how they’ll deal with nervous consumers, angry investors, and wary regulators should a few million credit card numbers be lost, the government overseers of power plants, air traffic control systems, and electricity grids ought to be doing the same to prepare for exponentially higher levels of public anxiety should any of those targets fall victim to cyber-attack.
Communications professionals must be ready to instantly and seamlessly work with law enforcement officials and investigators to prevent widespread panic in the event of cyber-terrorist attack. In addition to the local and regional communications needs that have to be addressed in virtual real time, there are also national and international ramifications that demand the careful planning and execution that only trained crisis communications professionals can bring to the table.
Failing to give communications enough weight in a cyber-terrorism crisis plan will only further enable terrorists to achieve the turmoil and pandemonium that is their stated goal. Whereas preparing to effectively engage the public in the event of an attack is one of the first steps towards dimming the threat that cyber-terrorists pose
Steve Ellis, Senior Vice President of Levick Strategic Communications and manager of the firm’s International Practice Group, has headed U.S. communications efforts for foreign government clients in the Middle East, Europe, Asia, South America, and the Caribbean. Throughout his career, he has counseled high-level elected and appointed officials on media relations, internal communications, bilateral relations with the U.S. government, privatization, and freedom of the press initiatives.
