Alireza Naeimi Sediq said in the educational webinar “Public Relations and Cybersecurity” attended by public relations managers and experts from the National Skills University across the country: using two-step authentication, strong passwords, updating software, managing user access, and creating backups are among the most important preventive measures against cyber threats, and backups should be stored in a secure location and their recoverability should be periodically tested.
He continued: in the event of a cyber incident, the matter should be reported without delay to the IT unit or the organization’s security officer, the infected device’s connection to the network should be cut off, and evidence should not be deleted nor the system restarted without coordinating with the technical team so that the incident can be investigated and analyzed.
This faculty member of the University of Semnan also noted the application of artificial intelligence in public relations activities: artificial intelligence is a powerful tool for content production and ideation, but confidential, personal, and sensitive organizational information should not be provided to AI tools without rules, and content produced by these tools should be reviewed before publication.
Naeimi Sediq also warned about fake content and deepfakes, emphasizing: public relations should not act on publishing or executing requests solely based on the appearance of a message, image, video, or voice attributed to managers and should verify the sender’s authenticity by another channel, because public relations is one of the most important links in the organization’s security chain and in safeguarding public trust.
He said elsewhere in his remarks: because public relations have extensive contact with organizational systems, social networks, and communication tools, they are exposed to cyber threats, and increasing awareness and observing security principles should be part of the professional activity of this field.
Naeimi Sediq stated: cybersecurity is not solely the responsibility of the IT unit and all staff, especially public relations practitioners who deal with systems, social networks, messengers, and organizational information, have a role in preserving information security.
He added: attacks such as phishing and social engineering are in many cases carried out by deceiving users, and a fake link, infected file, fabricated message, or weak password can pave the way for intrusion into systems and cause damage to the organization; therefore unusual requests and messages should be reviewed before action and, in sensitive cases, confirmed via an independent communication channel.
The Director General of Communications and Information Technology of Semnan Province stressed: public relations should also observe security considerations when publishing news and images, because published images and content may unintentionally provide attackers with information about documents, meeting locations, equipment, or other organizational details. / ISNA