The Public Relations Blog

A PR professional’s guide to cybersecurity

In this day and age, almost everything is online or completed on an electronic device. More workers are working remote or hybrid jobs, which makes online safety important as ever. Yet, many are unaware of cybersecurity safety practices. These practices will help prevent your company’s information from getting leaked, avoiding a potential crisis.

There are seven main cybersecurity practices to remember: 

Spear-phishing is an extremely dangerous and targeted form of phishing. It differs from phishing because a seemingly trusted source targets a specific person to compel them to reveal confidential information.

As PR, marketing, and communications employees, your work constantly demands your attention. It doesn’t matter if you're at your favorite coffee shop, the library, or shopping downtown; in this fast-paced industry, you have to act quickly. So, there are many times where you have to finish up some work, send some emails, or post content from a location other than your home or office. That brings up the issue of using unsecured Wi-Fi. When sending company or confidential information, you need to be aware of the Wi-Fi you're using.

In this episode, TCE Strategy’s Bryce Austin shares his expertise on cybersecurity and crisis communications. With host and Axia Public Relations founder Jason Mudd, he expands on data breaches and how to prevent them. He also talks about CISO, next-generation antivirus, password keepers, and multifactor authentication. Lastly, he and Jason discuss who’s responsible for promoting cybersecurity within your company.

Tune into this episode to learn more about cybersecurity and crisis communications.

You are human, and you make mistakes. As public relations, communications, and marketing employees, you constantly use a computer to do your job. You go through emails, write material, make content, and communicate with clients, coworkers, and media on a daily basis. Consistently using your computer for your work only increases your chances of falling victim to a cyberattack. According to PurpleSec cybersecurity statistics, around 52% of data security breaches are caused by human error or system failure. Therefore, you must be as cautious as possible and actively on guard. To prevent as many human errors as possible, follow the following tips for securing your digital footprint. 

As marketing, PR, and communications professionals, you may need to download something from the internet, such as a how-to inbound marketing guide, a webinar, an image, or an app. To prevent such downloads from allowing hackers access to your computer and sensitive information, remember this:

Vishing is another term for voice phishing, and it is the fraudulent practice of making phone calls or leaving voice messages impersonating reputable companies to convince individuals to reveal personal information, such as bank details and credit card numbers.

Removable media is any type of storage device you can remove from a computer while the system is running. As marketing, public relations, and communications employees, the amount of files you have on your computer probably exceeds the amount of storage available. To store this excess data, you use a removable media device, such as a flash drive, SD card, or other hard drive.

As marketing, PR, and communications employees, you use email constantly. This means you are vulnerable to the estimated 94% of ransomware that arrives via email, according to CSO Online. Ransomware is malware that encrypts your files, making any other files and systems that depend on them unstable.

You likely use email to send and receive sensitive company information. To protect this data, you need to protect yourself from fraudulent messages and scams.

Nearly all marketing, PR, and corporate communications employees use a laptop for work. According to a survey by tech company Kensington, 10% of laptops get stolen in their lifetimes. And since nearly half of all laptop thefts occur in offices or classrooms, employees who work from laptops at the office must be especially weary.