TLDR:
- Australian IT and security teams play key roles in communications during outages and cyber attacks.
- IT and security leaders should be involved in crisis communications planning and incident response.
Australian IT and security teams should play crucial roles in communicating during tech-related crises, such as outages and cyber attacks. Louise Roberts, managing director at Sphere Public Relations, emphasized the importance of IT leaders, including CIOs and CISOs, in crisis communications planning and incident response. IT and security leaders need to prepare for crisis situations and have separate cyber or technology crisis communications plans in place.
During a crisis, IT and security leaders should be involved in identifying and rectifying the problem, supporting clear and fast communication with stakeholders, and should have predefined crisis roles and responsibilities. Scenario exercises and prepared statements can help IT and security teams effectively manage and improve crisis communications messaging. By being prepared and taking a leadership role, IT and security teams can ensure smoother communications during crisis events.