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Just a Thought
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"The
only truly
secure system
is one that is
powered off,
cast in a
block of
concrete and
sealed in a
lead-lined
room with
armed guards."
-
Gene Spafford
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From
the Editor
The
UCLA Health Systems
breach is big news,
but when I started
reading about the
Ashley Madison hack
it really got me
thinking. For those
who haven't yet
caught one of their
ads or otherwise
heard of the
service,
AshleyMadison.com is
a dating site with a
twist - everyone
there is looking to
step outside of
their current
relationship. With
the tagline, "Life
is short. Have an
affair." it's not
surprising that the
service has some
enemies out there.
Krebs
on Security broke
the story (as
they so often do
when it comes to all
things cybercrime),
reporting that user
data, company bank
account info,
employee network
account details and
more belonging to
parent company Avid
Life Media, which
also operates sites
the sites Cougar
Life and Established
Men, were exposed by
a group calling
themselves "The
Impact Team".
Here's a quote from
the Krebs report:
According to the
hackers, although
the "full delete"
feature that
Ashley Madison
advertises
promises "removal
of site usage
history and
personally
identifiable
information from
the site," users'
purchase details -
including real
name and address -
aren't actually
scrubbed.
"Full Delete
netted ALM $1.7mm
in revenue in
2014. It's also a
complete lie," the
hacking group
wrote. "Users
almost always pay
with credit card;
their purchase
details are not
removed as
promised, and
include real name
and address, which
is of course the
most important
information the
users want
removed."
Their demands
continue:
"Avid Life Media
has been
instructed to take
Ashley Madison and
Established Men
offline
permanently in all
forms, or we will
release all
customer records,
including profiles
with all the
customers' secret
sexual fantasies
and matching
credit card
transactions, real
names and
addresses, and
employee documents
and emails. The
other websites may
stay online."
What's intriguing to
me is that, because
of the nature of
Ashley Madison
itself, standard
crisis management
procedures for data
breaches could
actually create more
issues. After all,
while most customers
likely used a sneaky
throwaway email to
register and receive
alerts, what about
the form letters
typically mailed by
banks, or the
issuers of the
affected credit
cards? If those go
out it's only a
matter of time until
significant others
start to match up
the timing and
figure out what was
going on, and how
much of a backlash
against the site
will there be once
it happens? Another
possibility being
tossed around is the
blackmailing of
prominent and
wealthy individuals
who were users of
the site, something
that could become a
major issue for a
number of parties if
it comes to
fruition.
Beyond that, those
who ponied up to
have their
information "fully
removed" are going
to have some
questions. While
nobody at Avid
Life/Ashley Madison
is required to
answer, per se, the
company is gambling
with its reputation
if it chooses to go
on with business as
usual after this
event.
The real question
from a business
standpoint is one
posed frequently by
Bernstein Crisis
Management president
Jonathan Bernstein -
"How much
pain will it
take?".
Will Avid Life do
the smart thing and
go all-in on crisis
management now, or
will it slap a
band-aid on the
problem and hope it
doesn't happen
again?
Regardless of what
type of organization
you run, you will
encounter turning
points such as the
one Avid Life faces
now. How you react,
how you communicate,
and how you recover
will determine
whether you thrive
or become yet
another case study
of crisis management
gone awry.
For more on the
implications of the
hack, check out this
PRWeek article
quoting BCM
president Jonathan
Bernstein.
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Interested in
reprinting BCM
articles or blog
posts?
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We're
happy to give
permission for
material to be
reprinted in hard copy
or online!
If you find something
you would like to
reprint, simply submit
a request to jonathan@bernsteincrisismanagement.com.
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Blogs!
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Do you
have a topic
you'd like to
see featured in
our blogs? Send
an email to erik@bernsteincrisismanagement.com
and there's a
good chance
you'll be seeing
it right here in
the next issue!
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| Apropos of
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Make Some Easy
Money
Bernstein
Crisis Management
pays VERY generous
referral
commissions, a
nice chunk of the
first year's
business from any
referred client.
Avoid The
Apology
Clueless
advertising folks at
Anheuser-Busch
eliciting widespread
anger with a Bud
Lite commercial
featuring the
tagline "The perfect
beer for removing
'no' from your
vocabulary for the
night";
Sea
World launching its
disastrous
#askseaworld
campaign, not
thinking through how
that hashtag could
be comically and
sadly hijacked;
Starbucks
kicking off - and
then aborting - its
ill-considered "Race
Together" campaign;
or,
Trevor
Noah, Jon Stewart's
hand-picked
replacement on "The
Daily Show," coming
under fierce online
criticism for
anti-Semitic and
otherwise
insensitive tweets.
So many of
the damaging
crises we see
making headlines
and creating costs
every day could
have been
prevented if
someone first
asked, "What the
(expletive
deleted) could go
wrong with this
idea?" That's the
premise behind
Bernstein Crisis
Management's AvoidTheApology.com.
To learn more,
email erik@bernsteincrisismanagement.com.
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.
For our
latest
presentation we
had the pleasure
of speaking with
Fred Muir's crisis
communications
class at USC's
Annenberg School
for Communication
and Journalism.
The
lectures are fun for
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 for us to
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)
Preparing
Candidates for
C-Suite Interviews
In
2014, a client
familiar with
Jonathan Bernstein's
media training
techniques suggested
that the same
methods would help
her husband, a
candidate for a
C-Suite position at
several companies,
be better focused
and prepared for his
interviews. She was
right and, as he
moved through the
interview process,
the candidate
received a number of
one-hour trianing
sessions by
Jonathan, via
webcam. That
candidate is now the
CFO of a $23 billion
company and is
available as a
confidential
reference.
Are
Your Social
Media Managers
Crisis Trained?
A solid social media
manager has quickly
become a must-have
for organizations of
any size, and can
make an immense
difference by
driving in customers
and building your
positive reputation
online.
The
problem is, the vast
majority are simply
not equipped to even
identify building
crises, much less
take the steps
necessary to cope
with and mitigate
the damage that can
result.
That's where we come
in.
Bernstein
Crisis Management is
now offering crisis
management training
for social media
managers, both
independent and
in-house, as well as
social media firms.
Traditional
Social Media
Training
Want to get your
feet wet with social
media but don't know
where to start?
Maybe you have
accounts, but aren't
sure what to post,
or how to reply?
Being
active on social
media is a must
these days, but you
have to do it right.
Erik Bernstein now
offers social media
training sessions in
person or via Skype
for groups and
individuals.
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
hard copy, $10 for
PDF.
Head to the
Crisis Manager
Bookstore
for more
information and/or
to purchase.
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 will
put you in
control of any
situation.
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Guest
Authors
Guest 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.
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About Us
 
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: jonathan@bernsteincrisismanagement.com.
Erik
Bernstein is vice
president of
Bernstein Crisis
Management. Erik
started with BCM
in 2009 as a
writer and
subsequently
became social
media manager for
the consultancy
itself as well as
for a number of
BCM clients before
moving to the VP
position.
Write to Erik at: erik@bernsteincrisismanagement.com.
Bernstein
Crisis
Management,
Inc. is
located at 700
S. Myrtle
Ave., #404,
Monrovia, CA
91016.
Telephone: (626) 825-3838.
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Legal
Disclaimer (aka
the small print)
All information contained
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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
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Bernstein Crisis
Management and
Jonathan Bernstein
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Unless due to willful
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Crisis Management
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Crisis Management
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