Crisis … what crisis?

And no, we’re not talking Supertramp, or even FIFA boss Sepp Blatter and the World Cup.

We’re talking about Sony and the debacle in April 2011 when their PlayStation Network was hacked and the security of an estimated 100 million records was breached, including data from more than 700,000 Australians.

User names, passwords, credit card details, security answers, purchase history and addresses could all have been stolen.

The terrible publicity rolled on for days but it took Sony almost a week after the network was switched off to confess it had been hacked.

The company has now admitted the incident has cut into its profit by about $US170 million.

Don’t think something like this can’t happen to you!

Crisis handling planning should be a part of your business. “Hope for the best, plan for the worst” should be your mantra.

These days, there’s a very good chance that, like Sony, your crisis could involve electronic data security or data loss.

Your electronic data is extremely valuable and can be linked inextricably to the value of your brand. In many cases, if the data loss involves your clients’ confidence , you could well kiss your business goodbye.

A true crisis should not involve something preventable. Could Sony have tightened its security? Probably … and it definitely should have reviewed operations after it raised the ire of known hacking coalition Anonymous a few days before its troubles began.

Likewise, you should look at the more vulnerable areas of your data control to minimise risk and retain control.

Your marketing and communications teams could well be your weak links.

Your marketing team is probably storing client data “on the cloud”. The third-party vendors that you are relying upon to keep your customers safe may well not be as security conscious as they claim to be – or that you believe.

Your marketing team probably controls the most sensitive data but is also most likely to be the part of your business the least trained in IT security. Let your IT experts run an eye over your customer databases and storage protocols.

You cannot plan for a crisis.

Almost by definition, it will be expected. However you can plan how you will handle it.

A crisis can either demonstrate to the world how disorganised, uncaring and irresponsible you and your business is. Or it can reveal that you do care, are responsible … but are human.

There may well be powerful forces attacking your business: interest groups, the media, disgruntled former customers, lawyers.

Strong forces will also come into play within your business. Your legal advisers will tell you to stop all communications immediately to reduce liability. Your communications teams may want to react equally aggressively in the opposite direction … spinning all communications in as positive a light as possible.

These different points of views will cause delays and confusions. You could end up looking like Sony who stayed silent for too long while the world speculated about its troubles and rumours abounded.

Take charge. Appoint a company spokesman immediately. No one else should speak publically about the incident except this person.

Here are some suggested guidelines for crisis management:

1. Expect that at some stage, you will have a crisis.
2. Have a predetermined crisis communication plan in place. Know who is going to attend the meetings; who is going to be the company spokesman.
3. Make sure your spokes person is trained in how to present themselves and your company to the media.
4. Acknowledge the problem immediately.
5. Be pro-active not reactive. Break the news … don’t wait for the media or customers to contact you.
6. Leverage social media. If you search for “Sony Playstation” now in a search engine, the April crisis has almost disappeared. Sony has conducted a strong campaign of news releases and product releases that have pushed the PS3 hacking issue off the front page.
7. Be accountable. Admit it … there was a mistake. We’ll fix it and make it sure it can’t happen again.
8. Make it right. If people deserve compensation, do it.

The hack could have been the end of Playstation as an online gaming platform, but so far Sony seems to be riding out the crisis … even if their initial reaction was glacial.

After finally admitting the breach, Sony offered PS3 players free streaming music as some sort of consolation .

Will this be enough to win back long-term confidence? Only time (and future PS3 console sales) will tell.