Counter strike
Guard against reputation sabotage
tall TALES ShorT shares
SOMe People will go to any lengths to manipulate reputation
As every CEO knows, where there’s money there’s malevolence, and with intangible assets accounting for ever-more of a company’s worth, reputation is where the money is. In this environment deliberate reputation sabotage is fast becoming the weapon of choice for those hoping to gain from your loss. With shorting shares, rumour mongering and press tip-offs all becoming more common, key stakeholders will look to the company’s leadership to identify threats and protect their investments. Good to know then that Schillings has a solution.
the principles
it’s difficult to be
overly VIGILANT 01. confidential diagnosis The moment you realise your reputation is being manipulated is the moment the damage has been done. Our advice to business owners is simple: the point at which you have the slightest hunch that something is wrong, call us. Unusual patterns of negative press, unexpected issues gaining public exposure, competitors stealing your thunder, all things that are part of doing business but all things that are clear signs of deliberate reputational damage. Our service Counter Strike provides a confidential and covert consulting service to business leaders who, quite rightly, are looking to follow up on their intuition. schillings.co.uk
02. finding the perpetrators When it comes to deliberate reputation damage, there’s no such thing as the usual suspects. It’s often those closest to a business that have the most to gain so you’d be wrong to rule out even close colleagues and associates. We work with you to analyse all of those that have something to gain by damaging your company’s reputation and we’ll leave no stone unturned as we do so. In parallel we will use state-of-the-art investigation techniques to ethically seek out the possible sources of disingenuous information and errant share trading activity.
staking out
the enemy within Counter Strike
Ensuring what they
demand is in short supply 03. reputation housekeeping For enemies to damage reputation, they must have access to private information that can be used against you. We assess how information flows throughout your business and help you implement processes and protocols that better protect your privacy. We also seek out and remove sensitive content from the inordinate amount of information that has invariably found its way into the digital domain.
schillings.co.uk
04. turning the source Very often the perpetrator gains access to a company’s inner sanctum by collaborating with a source. In our experience, it’s easier to focus effort on the information broker rather than the activist themselves. In being closer to the company, the source is often more controllable through employment contracts and non-disclosure agreements. Whatever the legal lever, our Counter Strike team acts quickly to control and, where possible, turn the source. It all sounds very MI5 we know, but corporate espionage of this sort needs a similar skillset to prevent and avert it.
From axis to allies Counter Strike
it’s only powerful
if it’s believable 05. minimising impact As well as working to prevent the attack, our Counter Strike team do everything possible to destabilise the effect of the action. From enabling you to show a source as unreliable and preventing publication, to moving the agenda quickly on to other matters, our team use a variety of techniques tuned over 30 years of experience in protecting rights and reputations through defamation and privacy law.
schillings.co.uk
OUR OFFER
01.
Assess motives
02.
Investigate methods
Counter Strike
Our teams draw on deep knowledge of how information is generated and can be legally obtained. This allows us to identify patterns of behaviour and human activity to verify whether deliberate hostile actions are taking place and who is behind them. Sometimes people’s motives are not what they appear. Understanding the attitudes, motivation and beliefs of those behind a campaign allows for an effective defence mechanism to be crafted.
Once a campaign and its architects have been identified we can ascertain how it is being run and what is allowing it to prosper. Certain classes of information can be traced to reveal public sources, others can indicate weaknesses in your own information governance, or worse, insider participants. Working with our information security and open source intelligence teams, the data is distilled to show not only where leaks are coming from, but to predict where future vulnerabilities lie.
03.
Cut the flow
04.
Contain and expose
schillings.co.uk
Armed with knowledge of the motives driving the campaign we can set about cutting off the perpetrators’ information sources to limit future activity. Manipulation of online media such as blogs and Wikipedia to give credence to dubious material can be addressed by discreet tactical legal challenges. Curtailing the information flow will make it possible to get ahead of campaigning activities and debunk claims before they are made. Similarly, tightening up vulnerabilities in your information security, from public litigation to unnecessary disclosures, can prevent a campaign obtaining the fresh material it needs to remain current.
For a hostile campaign to succeed it must influence the people who matter to you. Exposing the ulterior motives of those behind a campaign undermines its credibility and deters media and other influential third parties from giving them credence to its claims. Taken together the strangulation of fresh material and debunking of claims to the mainstream media frustrates efforts to damage a business.
When suspicion is rising, look below...
The Resilience Suite Schillings 41 Bedford Square London WC1B 3HX T +44 (0)20 7034 9000 www.schillings.co.uk
■ Data Breach SWAT Team ■ Immediate Response ■ Digital Privacy ■ Reputation Radar ■ Counter Strike ■ Encased