There are 39,000 cybersecurity companies worldwide, each competing to become a trusted source in the industries they serve. How do you stand out and demonstrate your expertise, especially when an incident hits? The answer is, a robust and strategic rapid response program.
What is rapid response?
Rapid response, or newsjacking, is a strategy that involves inserting your brand's ideas, expertise and key storylines into breaking news to generate media coverage and social media engagement, and overall thought leadership for your company and executives.
Capitalizing on breaking news stories makes you visible at the right time and positions executives and SMEs as thought leaders, and experts in the security issues that matter most. Rapid response programs insert your experts' voice into the conversations where your target audiences are.
Here are our top tips for running a top-notch rapid response program for cybersecurity.
What makes cyber news response-worthy?
Every 39 seconds, a cyberattack occurs, with an average of 2,200 attacks per day. Given the sheer volume of attacks, understanding which incidents warrant a quick reaction and response helps you prioritize the stories that will give your business the most traction. Not all news stories are worthy of a newsjacking effort, so it’s important to be strategic with the stories you pitch. Consider these three factors:
- Significant impact: Widespread attacks that substantially affect markets, sectors or human lives are rapid response worthy. Scenarios such as hacked healthcare institutions, stolen bank information or compromised federal agencies fall into this category.
- Connection to overarching trends: A rapid response approach is warranted if an attack ties into recent cybersecurity trends. Examples include persistent threats like ransomware, supply chain hacks or pandemic-related incidents.
- Your business’ area of expertise: If your company operates in the affected space or brings an expert point of view on the type of attack, the breach or the industry of the victim, then the news story is highly relevant.
Some topics, such as public policy, are (almost) always newsworthy. For instance, when the Biden Administration issued a new cybersecurity executive order, Highwire capitalized on the breaking news, securing a byline for Andrew Rubin, Illumio's CEO and co-founder.
Rapid response is not typically the most effective strategy if a vulnerability has already been patched or fixed. The narrative's focus from the media often shifts to the actions taken to resolve the issue or prevent future occurrences once a solution gets implemented.
In these cases, change to a proactive campaign that highlights your business’ effective response measures, commitment to ongoing security and initiatives to increase awareness and prevention, or keep an eye out for any changes in the news that might indicate a new cycle of fresh stories.
It's response-worthy news, so now what?
Timing is everything. Journalists look for sources for their articles as breaking news hits and are often inundated with commentary within the first hour and quickly over-sourced for a story. If your pitch isn't prompt and doesn't provide a different angle or unique expert insight, reporters may not consider it. They're interested in perspectives that introduce fresh ideas or provocative points of view that give new dimension to the story. Once you see a story developing in your business’ space, move quickly to get in front of the right reporters at the right time.
At Highwire, we take the following steps and have proven success in crafting a timely, relevant and well-coordinated response that lands.
- Analyze current media coverage: Review the media outlets covering the incident to tailor your responses to where the opportunity is.
- Communicate internally: Flag the story to your entire internal team to allow for a faster, more coordinated response.
- Evaluate your position: Does your spokesperson have a valid contribution to this news cycle that offers a perspective based on expertise?
- Develop unique perspectives: Offer fresh and, when appropriate, provocative perspectives to expand on the core narrative. Consider crafting multiple viewpoints to provide a richer understanding of the story.
- Plan next steps: Assemble a list of recommended next steps including contacting specific journalists, drafting response statements or prepping for potential interviews.
Effective newsjacking is about contributing meaningfully to the conversation in a way that underscores your spokesperson’s expertise and is relevant to the issue.
What makes a successful media response?
The quality of your response is as important as how quickly you get to journalists. The most successful statements are typically sound bites where executives provide real-time insights that provide:
- First-hand knowledge of the type of threat or organization under attack
- Specific credentials or experience tied to the event
- A bold perspective that introduces unique solutions or challenges conventional thinking
- A brief narrative to showcase knowledge and predict what's next
Take the Department of Justice's seizure of the stolen passwords marketplace, Genesis Market. Highwire quickly highlighted Roman Faithfull from ReliaQuest, whose expertise in cyber-criminal behavior patterns added substantial value to the conversation.
Getting executive buy-in is crucial for a successful response. If the insights you receive don't add significant value to the conversation or don't directly answer the questions at hand, feel empowered to push back. Your goal is to provide meaningful, unique insights that underscore your spokesperson’s expertise and contribute to the conversation.
Partnering with Highwire
A well-organized and collaborative rapid response program will likely lead to broader and more impactful media results that move the needle forward for your business.
Learn more about how the #HWCyberSquad can help support your rapid response program and help you achieve your PR goals.
