Practice makes perfect: cyber security training at the FT
by Rosie Crocker
Every business is aware of the damage that data breaches can cause, especially ahead of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which comes into effect next month. In March, Electric Airwaves came to the FT to help our teams think through potential cyber crisis scenarios.
The workshop placed people in cross-functional teams with colleagues from across the business. Each group received the same fictional crisis scenario and acted as a crisis management team for the FT.
The scenario was updated frequently throughout the morning and, after each team had agreed on what they were going to do, the team from Electric Airwaves facilitated a discussion how their decisions might be interpreted externally.
As the crisis evolved, teams were able to see how decisions they made earlier would be perceived later in the crisis and would impact the FT’s reputation.
The purpose of the workshop was to help staff:
- Understand how damaging a data breach could be to the FT
- Practice responding to a security incident in real-time
It was an enjoyable day and, as well as learning specific techniques for managing a crisis situation, attendees grew their confidence with respect to handling a data breach. As Electric Airwaves taught the teams, “Confidence comes from learning; learning comes from practice. A crisis is no time to start practicing.”
