果冻传媒

On Sunday morning, January 12th, when Ivo Jongsma鈥檚 alarm went off, he saw a series of missed calls and messages on his phone. The university had come under digital attack that night. All networks had been shut down to prevent further damage. A crisis was unfolding, and Jongsma, spokesperson for the Executive Board, was expected at 9 a.m. that morning for the first meeting of the Central Crisis Team (CCT).

The CCT was responsible for managing the crisis and informing the university community about the cyberattack and its consequences. One of the key points to communicate was that classes would not be able to take place the following day.

Informing through the media

This was a challenge when the usual communication tools were unavailable: no network, no email, no Teams, no Osiris, Canvas, or Studielink. 鈥淭here was a cyber crisis that we needed to communicate quickly to our community, but we only had our website available. So, the decision was quickly made that this would become our central information point. But how could we ensure that everyone would go there to get their information?鈥�

Wildfire in the media

鈥淭he only option was to do it through the media. It was nerve-wracking to loudly announce to the outside world that we had a problem. I remember when I was about to send out the press release on Sunday afternoon. I thought: I鈥檓 going to the bathroom first because I probably won鈥檛 have time to do that again for the next hours.鈥�

That was a correct assessment: the cyberattack news went around in no time on the otherwise news-free Sunday. Jongsma鈥檚 phone then rang incessantly with requests for more information and interview requests. 鈥淭hanks to this communication chain, almost nobody was surprised when they arrived on campus the next morning.鈥�

Questions and challenges

In that first week, the 果冻传媒 website was the only place where the approximately twenty thousand 果冻传媒 employees could get their information. Every morning at 10 a.m., there was a CCT meeting, after which other teams got to work on questions and challenges.

One of them was the communications team that dealt with the thousands of incoming questions from students and staff and provided updates to the cyber crisis FAQ. 鈥淭his way, we could give an update on the website every day at 16:00. People quickly realized that. We thought it was important that everyone would receive the same, correct information.鈥�

We thought it was important that everyone would receive the same, correct information.

Ivo Jongsma, Executive Board spokesman

Standing firm

鈥淔or that reason, we also said that we would not give media interviews because then pieces of information will circulate through other channels, but we wanted to keep it as clear as possible for everyone,鈥� says Jongsma.

For him, that meant that he had to stand his ground that first week and say 鈥榥o鈥� to all the major media in the Netherlands who wanted to come and do an interview with someone from the CCT or the board. 鈥淭he NOS News, RTL, Nieuwsuur, talk shows 鈥� all wanted an interview. That sometimes felt ambiguous: we had needed the media to get the news out, but now we held them off.鈥�

鈥淥f course, we gave the media that wanted to run an item on our campus about the cyberattack and wanted to interview students and staff the space to do so. In that first week, we joked that more media were on our campus than students.鈥�

Positive tone

Jongsma was pleased with the positive tone in which the media reported on the cyberattack on our university. 鈥淭he ICT experts who spoke in the media confirmed that we had acted well by pulling the plugs on our servers so quickly. There was a lot of sympathy for our situation and our actions. The Netherlands sympathized with us, right down to the House of Representatives and State Secretary, which was heartwarming.鈥�

Interviews

鈥淭he actual provision of information went well. However, we did feel that we could not quite convey the right feeling with our online messages, especially from the board. After a short brainstorming session, colleagues made a video with Patrick Groothuis, Executive Board vice-president and CCT chairman, on day three. He did that with a lot of flair, and generated a lot of appreciation and reactions.鈥�

When classes resumed after a week, Patrick Groothuis gave a series of media interviews, including with NOS. Jongsma: 鈥淪ome media outlets were getting frustrated; they wanted to speak to someone. We completely understood that desire. Fortunately, after the first week, there was more room for communication, and by then, the situation had become somewhat clearer.鈥�

It was all about going full throttle that first week. The collegiality was outstanding.

Ivo Jongsma, Executive Board spokesman

The cyber crisis was two weeks full of adrenaline for Jongsma. 鈥淭he first week was the most intense. It was all about going full throttle. And despite the unpleasant cause, I was impressed by the dedication and professionalism everyone showed. The collegiality was outstanding.鈥�

Reports

The cyberattack has not dominated Jongsma's work for a while, but soon, he will be able to get back to it. The reports about the cyberattack and how our organization acted in the crisis will be ready in May. 鈥淲e are going to bring out the results. There is still great interest in that.鈥�

Even in the tail end of this crisis, Jongsma remains true to communicating as clearly and transparently as possible, but also coordinated. 鈥淲e want to inform everyone well at the same time so that no half-stories start circulating.鈥�