Prepare, plan and protect
Prepare, plan and protect
Under Pressure 11 February 2021
Cyber alert at American water treatment plant
A cyber attack on a water treatment plant sounds serious and it could have been when the City of Oldsmar was targeted. For anyone with a security background they will have worked on support to iconic sites and infrastructure to protect against any attacks, so this incident will be a huge concern.
At the start of this week the Pinellas County Sheriff said someone had remotely accessed the computer for the city water treatment system on Friday and had ‘briefly’ increased the amount of sodium hydroxide in the system. The water was unaffected as a worker spotted it and changed things back. The remote access system was then disabled. Read the details here.
The importance of our cyber security has never been higher since huge numbers of people have moved to working remotely and from home during the pandemic. For communicators there should be a cyber crisis comms plan prepared and ready to use now.
Protecting business and community assets is a critical issue. The situation in America is an important reminder of the need to test, check and prepare for both cyber incidents and attacks on key sites.
Planning the future
Are you concerned about what the future may hold and how you can be ready for it? The past year has been a huge drain on communication teams creating additional pressures. All this can make it difficult to be able to look ahead and consider the future scenarios you may face.
It is hoped that soon we will be moving to the recovery phase of the Covid crisis and before this considering scenarios and developing plans is essential. I have developed a package to support communication teams large and small to carry out scenario planning to help when recovery happens.
If you want to find out more email amanda@amandacolemancomms.co.uk
Discussing modern crisis communication
The first of the series of #crisischat webinars takes place on 18 February at 12noon GMT. The focus is to ask what role behavioural communication can have before, during and after a crisis. Register here.
On 2 March will be a discussion about building resilience while in the middle of a crisis with Emma Ewing. Register here.
On 4 March specialist Kerry Sheehan will be talking about artificial intelligence and how it can work with crisis communication. Register here.
Social listening from WHO
The World Health Organisation has launched a social listening tool which assesses the online conversations in 20 pilot countries.
In Brief:
The International Association of Applied Psychology have published a special journal focusing on the psychosocial risk factors and coping resources during the pandemic. Find out more here.
PR Week ran an interesting comment piece from Alan Twigg highlighting the UK government communication failures. Read more here.
There have been a series of reports in recent months considering government responses to the pandemic. In the latest the Belgian government has been said to be unprepared for a future crisis. Read the article from The Brussels Times here.
You can read my latest blog on defining what makes a crisis, risk or issue here. If you have a crisis communication related blog that you would like to share I welcome guest bloggers. Just email me your idea - amanda@amandacolemancomms.co.uk
The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction has produced a video looking at the importance of businesses in disaster resilience. Watch it here.