Prior Proper Planning...

You know the Seven Ps of Preparation, don't you? Prior proper planning prevents p*ss poor performance. (Some would substitute the coarser word in that phrase with "pretty", but I'm an ex-Navy man and that's the way I learned it.)

Getting back to the issue of preparation, I had the privilege of introducing Beth Givens of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse to members of the Ponemon Institute's RIM Council today during the monthly RIM conference call. Beth pointed us toward an excellent article from February's Law.com. The article by White & Case lawyer David Bender, entitled "Why You Must have a Security Breach Response Plan," serves as a great thumbnail for any organization that may be wondering what they need to do should they experience a breach.

Of course, I'm pleased to see that David has included a couple bullets related to communications. The communications portion of David's checklist requires it's own plan to make certain an organization is prepared to let the public and other audiences know what's going on and to do so in a manner that is consistent with the truth and in keeping with the law. It is possible to say the wrong thing even if intentions are good, but with a plan in place in advance, the chance for such occasions are minimized.