Why Corporations Should Prepare for Disinformation Attacks Now

The digital disinformation threat is not only a danger to elections—it is also a growing threat to business. “Disinformation”—false information created with the intent to deceive for political or financial gain—is a tool profiteers and ideological trolls can use to damage your business. Now is the time to prepare.

There are early signals of the risk to reputation and investments posed by disinformation. Shadowy bot networks are amplifying fake news stories to influence investment algorithms and affect stock values, according to a June 2019 report by JP Morgan Chase strategists. On a 2018 Kara Swisher ReCode podcast, Zignal Labs CEO Josh Ginsberg explained how his media intelligence company looked at several major companies over a six-month period and determined they had all been hit with a major bot attack attempting to spread false information. 

A major East African telecom reported it spent nearly 50% of its communications department resources monitoring for erroneous information about the company.

An Institute for Public Relations (IPR) survey released this June found nearly two out of three Americans think the spread of misinformation and disinformation is a major problem for the country.

Building your company's disinformation defense now is essential for two reasons:

• Forming effective responses to disinformation is hard: Technology such as bot networks and deep fakes— audio and video doctored by artificial intelligence—will challenge the public’s ability to discern what is true. Trust in corporations, CEOs, and marketers is already low, according to the IRP survey. Finding ways your business can cut through this noise and speak with credibility in the face of disinformation requires new thinking and preparations undertaken before disinformation creates a business crisis, not once an attack has begun. 
• Waiting until you experience an attack may be too late: The rapid spread and virality of disinformation online means damage—in the form of lost stock value, customers, or brand reputation—will happen quickly. You will need to respond soon, and if you do not already have a disinformation response plan ready you will be hopelessly behind. 

For those willing to prepare, they can take full advantage of two key realities:

• You can anticipate the timing and types of disinformation: Effective propaganda mixes elements of believable truths with lies, and it is often timed to hit when the target is most vulnerable. Any misunderstood perception of your company’s history, policies, or past controversies is exploitable. In addition, financial situations where you are under the media microscope such as earning days, M&A scenarios, shareholder activism, leadership transitions, and product launches are fragile moments when false information can influence market value. But this also means it is possible to forecast when disinformation peddlers may attempt to hit your company. 
• It is almost always preferable to build trust before a crisis:  Preparing now can ensure your company’s reputation is resistant to false information. Because the most effective disinformation uses common claims about your business, smart corporate social responsibility efforts can reduce vulnerabilities by debunking myths or repairing any existing reputational damage. Building goodwill with stakeholders and customers can help them become resistant to disinformation, or at least make it more likely they will give you the benefit of the doubt when half-truths and outright lies are spreading. Establishing an authentic voice for your executives on social media can also boost your response options. A recent Brunswick Group study, Connected Leadership, found most finance readers expect CEOs to set a moral tone and communicate directly with the public and investors. Your digital team can also set up early warning systems and rapid response networks to monitor falsehoods spreading online. Lastly, now is the time to practice your response to disinformation scenarios. As with all risk scenarios, how you prepare often determines how you fare during the real thing.  

Do not wait until your company is the victim of disinformation. Now is the time to act.  

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