Crisis Communications in a Hostile Cyber Landscape
By Bethan Moorcraft writing in Business Insurance Australia… A few years ago, if a company suffered a cyberattack, the message they would relay was often: “We’re experiencing technical difficulties,” or “We’re dealing with a cyber incident.” But in today’s technology-first society, with ransomware and other cyberattacks so prevalent, crisis communication strategies have changed. Ransomware is […]
7 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Crisis Communications Firm
By Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications This article first appeared in the National Law Journal Crisis communications is a sub-specialty of the public relations profession that is designed to protect and defend an individual, company, or organization facing a public challenge to its reputation. Crisis communications is aimed at raising awareness of a specific type of threat, the magnitude, […]
7 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Crisis Communications Firm
By Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications Crisis communications is a sub-specialty of the public relations profession that is designed to protect and defend an individual, company, or organization facing a public challenge to its reputation. Crisis communications is aimed at raising awareness of a specific type of threat, the magnitude, outcomes, and specific behaviors to adopt to reduce the threat. […]
Attention: School Board Presidents, Superintendents & Education Attorneys
We are pleased to announce that Hennes Communications is now providing crisis management and crisis communications services to the Arizona School Boards Association (ASBA), giving their members access to our team 24/7/365. Those services include pre-crisis planning, 24/7 crisis response, crisis/media training, litigation communications support, communications audits and tabletop drills. As has already been announced, […]
Colonial Pipeline Incident: What Happened and Why It Matters
From David London, Managing Director at The Chertoff Group, writing for Homeland Security Today… On Saturday, May 8, Colonial Pipeline confirmed that its information technology (IT) systems were compromised by a ransomware attack. As a precaution, Colonial temporarily halted operational technology (OT) functions across four of its mainlines that transport gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, stretching from […]
To Navigate the Dangers of the Web, You Need Critical Thinking – But Also Critical Ignoring
Sam Wineburg, Professor of Education and History at Stanford University, writing for The Conversation… The web is a treacherous place. A website’s author may not be its author. References that confer legitimacy may have little to do with the claims they anchor. Signals of credibility like a dot-org domain can be the artful handiwork of a Washington, […]
Misinformation, Disinformation and Hoaxes: What’s the Difference?
From Michael J. O’Brien and Izzat Alsmadi, writing for The Conversation… Sorting through the vast amount of information created and shared online is challenging, even for the experts. Just talking about this ever-shifting landscape is confusing, with terms like “misinformation,” “disinformation” and “hoax” getting mixed up with buzzwords like “fake news.” Misinformation is perhaps the […]
Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community – Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Next to Warren Buffett’s annual letter to stockholders, one of the most eagerly anticipated document every year is the Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community. From Wikipedia: This report is delivered at a hearing of the US Senate Select Intelligence Committee that has occurred each year since 2006, until 2020. Each hearing includes at least one […]
The Slander Industry
From Aaron Krolik and Kashmir Hill writing for The New York Times… At first glance, the websites appear amateurish. They have names like BadGirlReports.date, BustedCheaters.com and WorstHomeWrecker.com. Photos are badly cropped. Grammar and spelling are afterthoughts. They are clunky and text-heavy, as if they’re intended to be read by machines, not humans. But do not […]
Is It a Good Idea to Tape Record Another Individual? And Just Because You Can, Should You?
Whether you’re an attorney, a medical professional, counselor, CEO or friend, is it legal for you to tape record your conversation with someone else? And even if it’s legal, should you? Years ago, if you wanted to record a conversation on the phone or in-person without telling the other individual, you had to spend hundreds […]