Crisis

The brief

Cyber security is one of the main worries keeping directors up at night. Imagine being alerted that a hacker is sharing an image of a folder with a client’s name on it on the dark web, taken from the backend system of a recent business acquisition. Then said client decides the first thing it wants to do is go on national TV to talk about the breach. This is what happened to a global US-based business who came to PRO to help manage its crisis communications.

The plan

It was key to establish the facts. PRO assembled all the key stakeholders to agree strategy, followed by a full briefing. PRO would continue to host these daily calls with the inhouse task force to keep abreast on the latest details. PRO put together a series of questions which would help keep everyone informed and used this to draft a press statement and internal and stakeholder communications, as well as producing a detailed timeline to share with the media. The press could also then use this information to check against contradictory statements.

The result

Stopped the snowball; the firm did not lose any major clients. It is now recognised as an industry leader in cyber security, even winning major awards. It is respected by the media for the professional and helpful way it conducted its business and is now often consulted by the press for background details on cyber security.