Siobhan Gorman

Spotlight

Cybersecurity introduction

2020-11-10

Data Breach Debrief

2020-11-10

Social media as a weapon

2020-11-10

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Answers (3)

How to recover from a security breach?

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Check out this video of Siobhan telling us how you can recover from a security breach:https://play.vidyard.com/At1Vikz1jjkGDVeH8bHnVL.jpg?

Top 10 cyber crisis PR failures

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Saying too much too soonSaying too little too lateStepping in it on social mediaThe tone-deaf CEOForcing affected individuals to waive their rights to sue Overpromising and failing to deliverThe appearance—or actuality—of insider trading prior to incident announcementCareless internal communication without legal privilegeMinimizing the impactAllowing vendors to speak for your organizationThere are no do-overs in a crisis, and the best prevention is preparation. One audience member noted: You can handle 90% of what hits you when using appropriate incident response processes. Very true, which is why employee education and preparation is so critical. We should take abroad view of cyber safety awareness, from tips on how to create a useful password and identifying phishing emails to adherence to media policies. It’s also important to take care in how you communicate electronically in an incident—it’s likely you don’t know the full details and propagating inaccurate information can lead to confusion. As Tanya said, “Don’t put anything in writing that you wouldn’t want in Times Square.”Ultimately, internal coordination is key to any incident response. Another audience member emphasized the importance of having a process for escalating a cyber incident internally so the right internal players are at the table from the outset—including communications and legal leaders. Small organizations and large corporations alike are forced to handle cyber incidents in the current environment. Those that handle the response without committing major PR #Fails will avoid the harsh public spotlight, maintain control of their narrative, and sometimes even get credit for a well-run response.

How can cybersecurity put your merger at risk?

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M&A deals expose companies to significantly heightened cyber risk, as the target company’s technology infrastructure is an important part of the package. If that infrastructure is infiltrated, or the intellectual property has been stolen, the acquirer takes over those problems.The best way to mitigate cyber risk in an M&A transaction is to reduce the potential for surprise by uncovering and addressing cyber issues before they’re uncovered for you – and ensuring a quick and capable response. Tailored cyber insurance can help manage the financial risk by guarding against a steep drop in valuation.To safeguard both companies’ reputations, contingency plans should be developed to guide their public responses in the event that a breach is uncovered. After the deal closes, the combined company should assemble a response playbook in the event of different types of cyber incidents. Such a playbook has the added benefit of helping the newly combined leadership team identify and work through strategies, roles and responsibilities.

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Biography

Siobhan Gorman is a Partner in the Washington, D.C. office of the Brunswick Group, where she concentrates on crisis, cybersecurity, public affairs, and media relations. Siobhan has worked on corporate crisis across a range of industries, including financial services, healthcare, defense, entertainment, technology, and automotive.

Siobhan has also led a range of cybersecurity, public affairs, litigation, and corporate reputation projects in the financial, retail, airline, and technology sectors. Tapping her longtime journalism experience, she regularly advises clients on media relations issues and conducts media training for executives.

Siobhan is a member of the Senior Advisory Group for Harvard University’s Defending Digital Democracy Project, which is focused on preventing and mitigating cyberattacks on the election process. She is also member of the Advisory Committee for Brown University's Executive Master in Cybersecurity.

Prior to joining Brunswick, Siobhan had a successful 17-year career as a reporter, most recently at The Wall Street Journal. At The Journal, she covered a range of national security and law enforcement topics, including counterterrorism, intelligence, and cybersecurity. Prior to joining The Journal in 2007, Siobhan was a Washington correspondent for The Baltimore Sun covering intelligence and security. From 1998 to 2005, she was a staff correspondent for National Journal covering similar issues. She began her career as a researcher for a columnist at The Washington Post.

Siobhan won the 2006 Sigma Delta Chi Award for Washington Correspondence for her coverage of the National Security Agency and in 2000 received a special citation in national magazine writing from the Education Writers Association. She has been nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize and is a graduate of Dartmouth College.

Siobhan was featured in Cybersecurity Venture's Women Know Cyber: 100 Fascinating Females Fighting Cybercrime, released in 2019.

Areas of Expertise (7)

Cyber Security

Cyberattacks

National Security

Litigation

Media Relations

International Relations

Intelligence and Counter Intelligence

Accomplishments (2)

Sigma Delta Chi Award, Society of Professional Journalists (professional)

For Washington Correspondence of her coverage of the National Security Agency (2006).

Nominated for Pulitzer Prize, Columbia University

3-time nominee

Education (1)

Dartmouth College: B.A., Government 1997

Affiliations (4)

• The Wall Street Journal
• Brown School of Professional Studies
• The Baltimore Sun
• National Journal

Links (5)

• Brown School of Professional Studies Profile
• RSA Conference Profile
• SecureWorld Profile
• Cybersecurity under the Trump Administration
• Brunswick Group Profile

Media Appearances (1)

Coronavirus: Tempted By Shut-In Bargain Deals? Be Mindful Before You Click

CBS New York  

2020-03-31

CBS2’s Charlie Cooper took a look at what shoppers should know before taking advantage of bargains, some not hard to find. “People may feel like they have a lot of free time because you’re still imagining what your life is like when you’re operating solely from home,” said Gorman. “I think people may quickly find that they actually fill that time, so you don’t necessarily want to find yourself with all these things that you can’t manage.”.

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Articles (3)

Hackers Exploit the Pandemic

| Brunswick Group Perspectives (2020)

Within weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak, hackers have already commandeered the virus to unleash cyberattacks, sending emails purporting to provide coronavirus guidance laced with cyberattack software. In one more alarming case, they appear to have attacked a hospital and forced it to cancel operations and take key systems offline.

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Data Breach Debrief

| Brunswick Group Perspectives (2019)

In late March last year, Under Armour learned that its MyFitnessPal app, which tracks diet and exercise, had a data breach that affected 150 million users. It’s not uncommon for companies to take several weeks—or even months—to publicly announce a cyber attack of that scale.

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Social media as a weapon

| Brunswick Group Perspectives (2018)

What do Isis and Taylor Swift have in common? According to author and digital-security strategist Peter Singer, both the terrorist organization and pop star are fighting for your attention online and employing similar tactics to try and win it.

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