One trend predicted to make an impact next year in cybersecurity is an increase in misinformation campaigns targeting businesses. Instead of hackers breaching a company’s technical infrastructure, misinformation attacks post falsehoods on social media to harm corporate reputations. This new type of cyber attack requires a proactive approach to lessen their eventual impact.
Nefarious online actors use misinformation attacks to influence stock prices or even as part of a ransomware attack. Here are a few insights on how to prepare your team for this new type of cyber crime. It’s something that requires a non-traditional approach.
Protection from Misinformation Attacks Requires More Than the Cyber Team
Since the front line of misinformation attacks is social media, monitoring these networks requires involvement from employees beyond IT. A company’s marketing and public relations team need to be closely involved with this process. Third-party service providers also handle this task for companies without the extra resources to perform 24/7 social media monitoring.
Marketing and PR also need to be proactive in sending out communications when a social media attack happens. Once again, the risks to a company’s reputation require handling misinformation as quickly as possible. So prepare messaging templates to use whenever counterpoints need to be quickly posted due to an attack.
Monitoring the Dark Web is Also Critical
Companies must also monitor the Dark Web to track any potential misinformation about their organization. Data gathering becomes critical in this situation. Your team needs to monitor chat rooms, scrape content from surreptitious websites, and more. Once again, third-party monitoring services are an option for companies lacking enough personnel for this task.
Preparation is the Key to Handling Misinformation Attacks
Considering the open nature of social media, your company won’t be able to prevent misinformation attacks. However, it must prepare to fight their effects when these attacks occur. Create a specialized team specifically for this purpose made up of personnel from IT, SecOps, marketing, and communications.
Strong communication at a high velocity remains critical in combating any adverse effects. As noted earlier, having messaging templates ready to go ensures your organization is able to respond as quickly as possible. Getting ahead of things in this information war gives your company the best chance at a successful outcome.
Building A Strategic Team of Cybersecurity Professionals?
If you need advice on building a talented cyber team, speak with the experts at Redbud. As one of the top cybersecurity staffing agencies in the country, we offer the talented candidates your organization requires. Schedule a meeting with us at your earliest convenience.
