Apexanalytix Crisis Communication
15
Pieces of acquisition coverage
7
Correction pieces of faulty information coverage
I just wanted to send a note of appreciation and thank you for the guidance and quick response you have given us with the Darkbeam incident. While it’s not over, and there is more work to do, I am so very thankful that you are our partners. As we go into tomorrow, I am confident that we will work through anything thrown our way. – Stephanie Atkin, SVP of Marketing
Challenge
SourceCode was tasked with starting a new relationship with apexanalytix by announcing the company’s acquisition of Darkbeam, a leader in supplier cyber risk management. The day after the announcement went live, a factually incorrect article was published on CyberNews that accused Darkbeam of leaking billions of email and password combinations. This news was picked up by other publications, including Tom’s Guide, TechRadar, and Security Affairs, and the team needed to implement a crisis communication strategy to temper the spread of the story and damaging misinformation.
Solution
Time was of the essence, so the SourceCode team moved quickly to develop a response plan with a statement that would be distributed to both Darkbeam customers and reporters who covered the leak. The team rigorously monitored the media for additional pickups around the news and flagged to the apexanalytix team in real time.
As additional coverage with the inaccurate information landed, the SourceCode team reached out to reporters asking them to update their stories with the written statement from Darkbeam. Not only was it vital to have ongoing discussions and problem-solving sessions with apexanalyix, but we wanted to ensure the Darkbeam team was involved as well. Throughout the week, we provided extensive counsel to both teams to aid them in successfully navigating the situation with limited negative press coverage and ensuring the approved refuting statement was included in all places possible.
Results
The Initial leak led to 7 pieces of coverage that included the false information, with most of them being smaller trade publications. With the help of SoureCode’s intervention, the team was able to generate 15 placements around the Darkbeam acquisition announcement, including coverage from Fortune Term Sheet, Security Week and Enterprise time.
