ARLINGTON, Va.–Casey Boggs, president of Portland-based public relations firm LTPR, recommended credit unions conduct a crisis rehearsal rather than wait until a cyber attack occurs.
"Go through a dress rehearsal, go through the communication strategy and what you're going to do," Boggs said at the NASCUS/CUNA Credit Union Cyber Security Symposium on Friday.
Boggs, the former director of public relations at AIG, said credit unions need to be prepared before, during and after a data breach.
Typically, when LTPR is brought in to manage a crisis for an institution, Boggs said the existing communication strategy is very poor to say the least.
Steps a credit union should take in advance include improving its disaster recovery plan with communications support, developing a computer security incident response plan, establishing an emergency task force and identifying a spokesperson.
"Make sure you have someone who is able to communicate effectively during a crisis," Boggs said.
He reminded credit unions that the spokesperson does not always have to grant interviews to the press during a crisis but can deliver statements via email or phone instead.
As soon as a breach occurs, Boggs said credit unions must notify regulatory agencies and their members immediately.
He suggested Twitter as a great tool for providing updates to members about the situation while Facebook is best for reputation management.
"Concise, unified messaging across all mediums," Boggs said.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
