‘About as serious a crisis as one could imagine’ – Comms lesson from global IT outage
PR Week
Mark Borkowski, PR consultant and founder of his eponymous PR agency, Borkowski
“While high-profile cybersecurity attacks are nothing new, the escalating Microsoft CrowdStrike software issue signals a pivotal shift in the severity and scale and the disastrous impact it can have on everyone and anyone. As society becomes increasingly dependent on technology, while in tandem, cybersecurity attacks are accelerated by the rapid development of generative AI, the reputation of massive organisations like Microsoft is more fragile than ever.
While the media tries to piece together what happened, those responsible for their reputations in the firing line have a daunting job in managing this crisis. We will soon find out how prepared companies are for such a seismic disaster, but this could be very costly for any company caught on the back foot. This is a vital lesson for those following this story, and it’s essential to ask yourself whether you’re prepared for a crisis to spring up so suddenly because a lot can go wrong in the heat of the moment.
Observing and learning from the missteps of corporations across various industries isn’t just prudent – it’s essential for fortifying your own defences against the inevitable storms in the volatile landscape of modern business.”
‘About as serious a crisis as one could imagine’ – Comms lessons from global IT outage | PR Week