Protecting your brand’s reputation against cyber-attacks

Your brand is how the world sees you; it takes time to build a reputation and the goodwill associated with your brand. Unfortunately, in the event of a cyber-attack, that reputation can be lost much quicker than it can be built.

A cyber-attack involves an unauthorised user targeting a business’s computer systems or networks with malicious intent to disrupt operations, often performed by the stealing, disabling or destroying its data, information, services or infrastructure.

Legal complications in the field of privacy and data protection can arise from cyber-attacks. The unauthorised release of personal, commercial or confidential information in a data breach can lead to the issuing of legal penalties by regulators, such as the Information Commissioner’s Officer (ICO) and the bringing of claims by affected organisations and individuals, amongst other issues.

A data breach involving leaked personal and financial information can destroy the trust customers place in their suppliers to protect their data. Attackers can also deface a brand’s online presence by spreading false information or hijacking a business’s website, which can irreversibly damage a brand’s integrity.

While a business may experience financial strain from legal penalties, the diminishment of brand identity and reputation following a cyber-attack can be fatal. It’s therefore important that businesses incorporate preparation and resilience strategies into their wider brand reputational management strategy.

From a brand protection perspective, the first step to being cyber resilient is ensuring your business has a legally sound crisis plan. This plan should outline how your business will respond to a breach. A crisis plan supports business continuity by ensuring swift and transparent communication with consumers and stakeholders, aligned with the brand’s established reputation and values. It also helps assess the risks before a cyber-attack and manage them afterwards, including reporting breaches within sensitive timeframes.

Unfortunately, in the current climate, businesses need to recognise that cyber breaches are inevitable. As a result, they can no longer afford not to be cyber resilient. A business must have the capacity to respond quickly and effectively to an attack, as cyber-attacks are becoming increasingly clever and common. Without preparation, the disruption they can cause can be fatal to brand integrity and reputation.

Businesses should involve both legal and public relations teams to manage reputation risks before and after attacks. This ensures they are equipped to deliver a balanced response that considers both legal and commercial objectives.

In the context of cyber, the old adage “failing to prepare is preparing to fail” could not be more relevant. By understanding all applicable legal, contractual, industry and regulatory requirements for handling personal, commercial and confidential information – and having a plan in place to manage the risks of handling that data, particularly in the event of a breach – a business can be cyber resilient and maintain its brand integrity and reputation, even in the face of an attack.

Protecting a brand is an ever-important mission. Whether it be registering trade marks and designs or implementing robust policies for internal and external reputation management, brand protection always starts from within the business and is a key requisite for commercial success.