Data Breach Communications

In a data breach crisis, Purple’s expert crisis communicators are ready to support an organisation, its staff and stakeholders at short notice.

We will support your engagement with media, authorities, those impacted and the broader community. In the aftermath, we implement a reputation recovery strategy to rebuild trust and relationships

If a breach has occurred, it’s important to act quickly to minimise the physical damage, while also limiting the impact to stakeholders and reputations.

Organisations should regularly review their data breach and cyber response plans.

Data breach management

It is best to prepare as if a breach is inevitable. The best–case scenario is that an organisation develops plans it never has to implement. We approach our data and cyber response planning services as if it is a critical business insurance. Organisations which prepare in this space tend to save money and time and protect their reputations when they do have an issue.

In Australia, the introduction of the Australian Privacy Amendment (Notifiable Data Breaches) in February 2018 means it is now law to notify all relevant parties after an eligible breach.

A business will be judged less on the fact it has suffered a data breach and more on how it responded when it found out. That’s where communications play such a vital role.

Purple will guide your team through the steps to take in responding to a data or cyber breach, including developing plans to communicate to stakeholders on multiple platforms. Transparency is a crucial tool to demonstrate openness, and the communication of it is paramount.

Data breach crisis management and preparation

There is no substitute for preparation when it comes to a data breach.

There are simple security steps to put in place immediately but your company should be assembling a strategy and testing the team’s capabilities about the best way to respond if the worst happens.

Purple offers crisis training using bespoke products such as Situation Room, which exposes your team to fast-moving crisis scenarios, as well as media training if required.

Read our white paper: How to prepare for notifiable data breach reporting

Cyber breach response and follow-up attacks

It pays to be prepared for a data breach and businesses that have been hit by hackers once are more likely to be targeted multiple times.

To lessen the risk, Purple audits current communications practices and processes to identify proactive improvements to your protocols. This can include reviewing your crisis response plans, testing your team capability and capacity through scenario training, and building communications stakeholder templates for use when a breach occurs.