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JUST A THOUGHT
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"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored"
-- Aldous Huxley
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FROM THE EDITOR
Going from something almost entirely out of the realm of public knowledge to a major national issue in the span of a couple months, cyber warfare has been confirmed as the next combat frontier.
This past Tuesday, a group of top U.S. intelligence officials appeared before Congress to state their belief that cyber attacks are now of more concern than terrorist plots, the first time since September 11, 2001 that anything else has taken center stage in terms of national defense.
FBI Director Robert Mueller was the first to express his concerns, saying the cyber threat is so worrisome that it keeps him up at night, and was backed by desperate warnings from the James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence and CIA Director John Brennan.
In a precedent-setting move, Gen. Keith Alexander, head of the U.S. Cyber Command, discussed for the first time the 13 cyber teams being prepared by the Pentagon, and explained that they will have the capability to conduct both offensive and defensive operations.
The reality of our very near future is that, not only will nations battle each other for control of cyberspace, both in the open and secretly, but criminal coders will also craft cyber-warfare suites and sell them to unscrupulous organizations for use in the private sector.
If you don't have a solid grasp of web security, along with the tools in place to protect your networks, you're a sitting duck.
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(Note: If you just "Forward" using your own email program's "Forward" function and your recipient thinks they're being spammed, they can click on the Opt Out link and opt YOU off the list. So use the "Forward Email" link, please.)
Thank you, and read on. |
BLOGS!
By Erik Bernstein
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Want to talk about something you read on our blogs? We welcome comments, or even better, hit that little Twitter button on the page and tag your tweet with @bernsteincrisis or @nomorecrisis. We're listening!
If you want to handle crisis management right, Practice for Crisis Preparedness. Consider your objectives, craft plans, and then actually put them to work with everything from tabletop exercises to full-fledged simulations. In yet another example of rogue tweeting creating reputation damage, one Canadian City's Rogue Tweet Crisis included an f-bomb going out from the official town Twitter account, followed by a less-than-believable "we must've been hacked" attempt at damage control. Large crises often have their roots in small incidents. That's why we say Every Avalanche Starts Somewhere. Read on to learn how you can catch these issues before they pick up enough steam to flatten your organization. Twitter, Where's Your Response? takes a look at the shocking lack of communication from the social media giant following a series of hacks that included the corporate accounts of both Burger King and Jeep.
Ducking Reporters, Literally, discusses the painfully awkward avoidance strategy employed by one surprised secretary when she spotted a news crew outside of her office doors, and what steps you need to take in order properly prepare your employees for this type of situation.
One highly-publicized bad review kicked off the battle of electric-car-maker Tesla vs. The Times. With facts and figures flying both ways and a highly engaged public participating the whole way through, this one was a throwdown for the record books. E. coli Crisis Management in Canada examines a series of food contamination cases that embarrassed not only the company whose meat was tainted, Cardinal Meat Specialists, but also the watchdog agency assigned to oversee them, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Even satire news mag The Onion Gets Serious about Crisis Management. After the social media-verse revolted against a tasteless tweet that an Onion staffer fired off during the Oscars, we weren't sure what to expect, and were as shocked as anyone to see a quality apology from CEO Steve Hannah. Mixed-up messaging and a series of administrators ducking responsibility has many asking, is there a Cover-up Culture at UNC when it comes to sexual assault? A lawsuit's been filed and women are speaking out. If there was ever a time to step up and take responsibility for managing a crisis, it's now. Social Media Accounts - Who Really Owns Yours? That is the question on the minds of many after a series of high-profile disputes between users and their former employers as to just who owns all those contacts and followers, as well as who gets to wield the influence that's been built.
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| APROPOS OF NOTHING | |
Controlling Crises in the Digital Age:
Case Studies and Lessons Learned
Join Jonathan Bernstein and a panel of LA's top communications pros as they discuss the challenges of crisis management in the digital age, where news cycles are lightning-fast and the court of public opinion can be swayed with a single tweet.
When: Wednesday, March 27, 5:30 - 8:30 pm
Where: Museum of Flying, 3100 Airport Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90405
For more information and to register, just click here.
We Are Giving Away Business!!
Did that get your attention?
Bernstein Crisis Management has been blessed for some time with more work than I can handle on my own, so the expert contractors in my Crisis Management Database have been getting more and more referrals lately and/or brought in as my subcontractors.
That's the virtual business model I've had since 1994, and today that model is widely accepted and appreciated by our clients.
So, if you have a crisis management-related business and would like to be considered for my Database, please write to me! - Jonathan
Bernsteins Available to Deliver Free Guest Lectures, Q&A Sessions
Jonathan alone, or the team of Jonathan and Erik Bernstein, are available at no charge to deliver guest lectures and host Q&A sessions with college classes via Skype or Google Hangout.
Our latest virtual visit found us speaking with students from the University of Minnesota's journalism program on the topic of writing for crises, and we have another engagement at Toronto's Humber College coming next month!
The lectures are fun for both us and students, and we're more than happy to allow recording for your future use.
All you need at your end is a single computer with webcam and a strong broadband connection and we can appear in your classroom in real-time.
Contact us for more info!
Attention Corporate Boards of Directors (and those who serve them).
If you're connected with a corporate board of directors in some way and think that board would benefit from having a veteran crisis management pro amongst its membership, please contact me. -- Jonathan
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BUSINESS ANNOUNCEMENTS
(aka blatant self-promotion) Expanded Crisis Manager Bookstore We've recently expanded the Crisis Manager Bookstore to include offerings from esteemed colleagues like Melissa Agnes, Gerald Baron, Chris Syme and Jim Lukaszewski that cover topics from crisis communication and traditional PR to social media and cutting-edge crisis management. We'll be adding other authors we admire in the weeks ahead.
Visit the new Crisis Manager Bookstore to see all of the material available now!
Keeping the Wolves at Bay: Media Training  Learn how to deal with traditional or social media during a crisis in this educational and entertaining guide from Crisis Manager publisher Jonathan Bernstein. $25 for the hard copy and $10 for the PDF. Head to the Crisis Manager Bookstore for more information and/or to purchase.
Manager's Guide to Crisis Management
Whether you're a seasoned manager, aspiring up-and-comer, or student of crisis management, Jonathan Bernstein's textbook, Manager's Guide to Crisis Management (McGraw-Hill, 2011) will put you in control of any situation.
Want Someone to Set Up and Turn-Key Your Social Media Activity for You? Missing out on all the promotional, SEO and reputation management advantages of being active on social media platforms? Hire someone to be your voice...like Erik Bernstein, editor of Crisis Manager. He's the one largely responsible for keeping the Bernstein Crisis Management website and social media accounts highly ranked and popular. More info:[email protected]. |
GUEST AUTHORSGuest authors are very welcome to submit material for "Crisis Manager." There is no fee paid, but most guest authors have reported receiving business inquiries as a result of appearing in this publication. Case histories, experience-based lessons, commentary on current news events and editorial opinion are all eligible for consideration. Submission is not a guarantee of acceptance. |
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER AND EDITOR   Jonathan Bernstein is both publisher of Crisis Manager and president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., a national crisis management public relations agency providing 24/7 access to crisis response professionals. The agency engages in the full spectrum of crisis management services: crisis prevention, response, planning & training. He has been in the public relations field since 1982, following five-year stints in both military intelligence and investigative reporting. Write to Jonathan at: [email protected]. Erik Bernstein is editor of Crisis Manager and is also Social Media Manager for Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc. Write to Erik at: [email protected]. |
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LEGAL DISCLAIMERAll information contained herein is obtained by Jonathan Bernstein from sources believed by Jonathan Bernstein to be accurate and reliable. Because of the possibility of human and mechanical error as well as other factors, neither Jonathan Bernstein nor Bernstein Crisis Management is responsible for any errors or omissions. All information is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Bernstein Crisis Management and Jonathan Bernstein make no representations and disclaim all express, implied, and statutory warranties of any kind to the user and/or any third party including, without limitation, warranties as to accuracy, timeliness, completeness, merchantability, or fitness for any particular purpose.
Unless due to willful tortuous misconduct or gross negligence, Jonathan Bernstein and Bernstein Crisis Management shall have no liability in tort, contract, or otherwise (and as permitted by law, product liability), to the user and/or any third party.
Under no circumstance shall Bernstein Crisis Management or Jonathan Bernstein be liable to the user and/or any third party for any lost profits or lost opportunity, indirect, special, consequential, incidental, or punitive damages whatsoever, even if Bernstein Crisis Management or Jonathan Bernstein has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
A service of this newsletter is to provide news summaries and/or snippets to readers. In such instances articles and/or snippets will be reprinted as they are received from the originating party or as they are displayed on the originating website or in the original article. As we do not write the news, we merely point readers to it, under no circumstance shall Bernstein Crisis Management or Jonathan Bernstein be liable to the user and/or any third party for any lost profits or lost opportunity, indirect, special, consequential, incidental, or punitive damages whatsoever due to the distribution of said news articles or snippets that lead readers to a full article on a news service's website, even if Bernstein Crisis Management or Jonathan Bernstein has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Authors of the original news story and their publications shall be exclusively held liable. Any corrections to news stories are not mandatory and shall be printed at the discretion of the list moderator after evaluation on a case-by-case basis.
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