A review of top tier UK media coverage of cybersecurity during the 2020 pandemic
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A review of top tier
UK media coverage
of cybersecurity during
the 2020 pandemic
This report uncovers an array of valuable
insights found through research into cybersecurity
software providers’ presence in the press during
the COVID-19 pandemic
flagshipconsulting.co.uk
Contents Page Media analysis 3 Coverage analysis 4 Case study: McAfee 8 Top takeaways 11 Methodology 12
Media analysis
Which publications featured vendor cybersecurity
commentary most frequently?
Spokespeople from the companies researched featured in the
national media on 234 occasions during the COVID-19 lockdowns,
with the Daily Express using cybersecurity spokespeople 48 times,
more than any other national publication.
The pandemic brought a wave of panic which cybercriminals were quick to
jump on, leading to stories about cybercrime being particularly newsworthy,
and providing opportunities for spokespeople to share their insight.
Articles in the national media quoting
cybersecurity spokespeople
Daily Express 48
Daily Telegraph 39
Daily Mail 39
The Times 28
The Independent 23
Daily Mirror 19
The Guardian 15
City A.M. 8
i 5
Evening Standard 3
Daily Star 3
The Sun 3
Metro 1
Whilst all the national publications quoted spokespeople from cybersecurity companies, the
ways in which they were used, and the topics covered, varied across the publications. Notably,
there was a marked difference between tabloid and broadsheet newspapers.
TABLOID
Across the tabloid publications, articles The Daily Mail similarly selected topics such as
tended to focus on the latest threats to COVID-related scams, high-profile cyberattacks
consumers. The Daily Express regularly and vulnerabilities in Android apps through
published articles which warned people the lens of the consumer. The paper also took
about threats associated with big brand names a deeper dive into issues to do with privacy
such as WhatsApp, Windows 10, as well as and security concerns around the NHS Test
Google Chrome and Android apps. The same and Trace project.
can be said about the Daily Mirror, which had
In these publications, the role of the cybersecurity
a particular focus on Android and iPhone threats.
spokesperson tended to be to provide clear
explanations and simple advice to consumers
about the threats.
A review of top tier UK media coverage of cybersecurity during the 2020 pandemic Page 3
Media analysis continued
BROADSHEET
The UK’s main broadsheets – the Daily Although spokespeople were still used to
Telegraph, The Times and The Guardian – all provide advice for consumers, these
took a slightly different approach to publications focused more on explaining in
cybersecurity during the pandemic. These greater detail how and why the attacks had
publications regularly covered stories around happened, and the wider trends associated
remote working and nation-state hacking, with them.
alongside prominent cyberattacks.
What drove coverage of cybersecurity topics in the
national media?
Analysis of the coverage secured
by spokespeople over the
COVID-19 lockdowns showed
that when cybersecurity is
covered in national publications,
there are four main news hooks
that drive coverage.
1. Jumping on the news cycle: the most
common drivers of coverage for cybersecurity
spokespeople were data breach or security
and privacy events which became major
news events in their own right, such as the
easyJet hack in May. The knock-on effects
of lockdowns also pushed issues such as the
security of video-calling platforms and the
privacy implications of the COVID-19
Test-and-Trace programme to the forefront
of public interest.
In these stories, the news event makes up
the majority of the article, and spokespeople
are called upon to give additional
commentary, providing an assessment of
the dangers to the public and giving advice
as to what action people should take.
A review of top tier UK media coverage of cybersecurity during the 2020 pandemic Page 4
Media analysis continued
2. Cybersecurity research: the second biggest
driver of coverage was research from
cybersecurity companies, which provides
technical analysis of the latest threats.
Typically, the research that received national
coverage covered malware or phishing
campaigns that capitalised on the pandemic,
statistics on cybercrime rising during the
pandemic, and Android malware.
Unlike with news events, in these articles the
companies’ content is the central subject,
meaning that their spokesperson is able to
dictate the themes that are discussed. With
that being said, the commentary still tends
to focus on analysis of the threat and
practical advice.
3. Profile pieces: although news events and
research accounted for the lion’s share of
cybersecurity coverage, there were also a
handful of articles that profiled senior figures
from the top 15 companies studied. In these
articles, the spokespeople were senior
executives, and their quotes made up most
of the body of the article. The content tends
to focus on information about the company
and the spokesperson themselves, with
additional commentary on broad
cybersecurity trends.
4. Campaigns: in a small number of cases,
coverage was driven by cybersecurity
companies’ own campaign work. By
producing engaging consumer-facing
content, typically based on surveys and
studies, companies were occasionally able
to generate valuable coverage in which
they dictated the messaging and themes.
When they successfully managed to do so,
spokespeople were typically deployed to
reinforce these chosen messages.
A review of top tier UK media coverage of cybersecurity during the 2020 pandemic Page 5
Coverage analysis
Which companies secured most coverage in the
national media?
In terms of spokespeople quoted during the Darktrace, Avast, McAfee and FireEye made
pandemic, ESET was head and shoulders above up the rest of the top six, although F-Secure
its competitors, securing three times as much was close behind on 16 appearances. After
coverage as Kaspersky, the second most this, there was a significant drop-off, with eight
successful company. companies securing fewer than ten national
hits for spokespeople.
Top companies by coverage in national publications
80
Number of articles in top tier media
70 76
60
50
40
30
20 23
19 18 17 17
10
0
ESET Kaspersky Darktrace Avast McAfee FireEye
A review of top tier UK media coverage of cybersecurity during the 2020 pandemic Page 6
Which cybersecurity spokespeople were
most quoted?
Jake Moore, Cybersecurity Specialist at ESET, Raj Samani of McAfee was the other
was the most successful individual spokesperson who stood out during the period
spokespeople by some distance when it came analysed, appearing in the press 16 times. Mr
to appearances in the national media, Samani, the company’s Chief Scientist, was
generating 69 pieces of coverage. He did so principally quoted due to McAfee’s Most
exclusively through providing commentary on Dangerous Celebrity 2020 campaign.
news events, demonstrating the value of
having a dedicated spokesperson who is
available to give regular, reactive
commentary to developing events.
Spokesperson Total Appearances
JAKE MOORE 69
Cybersecurity Specialist, ESET
RAJ SAMANI 16
Chief Scientist, McAfee
JAKUB VÁVRA 8
Threat Analyst, Avast
ONDREJ VLCEK 6
Chief Executive Officer, Avast
JOHN HULTQUIST, Vice President, 6
Intelligence Analysis, FireEye
MIKKO HYPPONEN 5
Chief Research Officer, F-Secure
LUKAS STEFANKO 5
Malware Researcher, ESET
CARL WEARN 5
Head of E-Crime, Mimecast
TOM ILUBE, Chief Executive Officer, 5
Crossword Cybersecurity
DAN PANESAR 5
Director UK and Ireland, Securonix
A review of top tier UK media coverage of cybersecurity during the 2020 pandemic Page 7
Case study
McAfee’s Most Dangerous
Celebrity campaign
The Most Dangerous Celebrity study is a campaign that McAfee has
been running annually for the past decade, exploring which celebrities
generate the largest quantity of malicious results when searched online.
The firm has had growing success with
this content year on year, and in 2020 it
earned them coverage in a range of
national publications, including the
Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph and the
Daily Mirror.
By placing some of the biggest celebrity
names at the heart of their campaign,
McAfee allows publications to write
immediately eye-catching headlines, whilst
creating content that is universally enticing
to readers of national newspapers.
They can then use these household names
as a vehicle to deliver engaging content
that highlights the dangers of malicious
websites and reinforces their message
of cybersecurity awareness.
In carrying out the awards yearly, the
company has also added weight to its
campaign, demonstrating to journalists
that the content is newsworthy, and
building its reputation further each year.
‘Most Dangerous Celebrity’
campaign - appearances from
spokespeople in national media
9
Appearances from spokespeople
8
8
7
6
6 6
5
5
4
4
3
2
1
0
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
A review of top tier UK media coverage of cybersecurity during the 2020 pandemic Page 8
Coverage analysis continued
Who did the companies select as their
spokespeople?
The research shows that the spokespeople quoted across all 15 companies overwhelmingly fall
into two groups.
The first group are employees from the in the industry, and give their view on issues
research side of the business, such as threat around privacy and data protection.
analysts, researchers and directors of threat
Lastly, one trend that was unavoidable when
intelligence. Their expertise in the technical
looking at the full list of spokespeople was
aspects of cybersecurity makes them well
the lack of gender diversity. Across all the
placed to discuss the specificities of new
companies’ appearances in the national
types of malware, or explain how an
media, just 4.7% came from female
individual data breach took place.
spokespeople, and 11 companies had zero
The other group are senior officials from the female spokespeople quoted during the period
companies, such as chief executive officers, researched. Darktrace was the only firm that
founders, and chief strategy officers. Their came close to parity between male and
high-level experience means that they are female spokespeople, with 42% of their
often called upon to discuss broader trends quotes coming from women.
A review of top tier UK media coverage of cybersecurity during the 2020 pandemic Page 9
Coverage analysis continued
Who did the companies select as their
spokespeople? continued
Top tier tech journalists that we spoke to about means that they have a major role to play in
this issue were unanimous in their view that the how the industry is perceived, so to close the
cybersecurity industry has a diversity problem, diversity gap in the cybersecurity industry it is
and research from Tessian confirms this; its 2020 crucial that spokespeople lead the way.
study showed that just 17% of UK IT professionals
Journalists are actively seeking to diversify their
are female. However, the fact that more than
commentators but, with the current media
nine out of ten appearances in the national
landscape seeing them placed under huge
media came from male spokespeople shows
time pressure, they cannot be expected to
that communications departments are not
drive the agenda. Cybersecurity firms must
yet taking this issue seriously.
therefore seize the initiative and diversify
To encourage diversity in cybersecurity the voices that they present to the press.
recruitment, applicants need to see people
from diverse backgrounds in senior roles. The
visibility that media spokespeople receive
Total appearances from
spokespeople by gender
Male 95%
Female 5%
A review of top tier UK media coverage of cybersecurity during the 2020 pandemic Page 10Top takeaways
Speed is of the essence: the biggest
opportunity for cybersecurity firms to appear
in national media is by closely monitoring
the news cycle for breaking stories and new
research on which they can comment. For this
to succeed, you must have spokespeople
readily available to react with insightful,
succinct commentary for journalists,
sometimes within minutes.
Not all nationals are the same: while some
report on threats to consumer technology and
the latest cyber scams, others focus on the
wider cybersecurity landscape and its impact
on our infrastructure. It is important to do your
research and be deliberate in targeting the
publication that offers the best chance of
success for the story you are pitching.
The industry needs more diversity in its
spokespeople: without full representation of
spokespeople in the media, the cybersecurity
industry can never hope to recruit a diverse
workforce. Ultimately, the more diversity
shown in media, the more we create
visible role models for future generations.
Cybersecurity firms should consider placing
more diverse spokespeople in front of media;
if they lack experience, media training and
practice are the key first steps to achieve this.
A review of top tier UK media coverage of cybersecurity during the 2020 pandemic Page 11Methodology Flagship PR used Factiva, an international news database produced by Dow Jones, to assess the performance of the top 15 companies in the cybersecurity software industry by media coverage in UK national publications between 23 March, the date when Boris Johnson first announced lockdown measures in the UK, and 2 December, the day when the UK’s second lockdown ended. About Flagship PR Flagship is a multi-award-winning PR agency that uses deep insight and cutting edge communications techniques to drive forward looking businesses towards their objectives. To see specific case studies or to have a conversation about your needs, get it in touch – and for more insights like this one subscribe to our newsletter E: mark.pinnes@flagshipconsulting.co.uk T: +44 (0) 20 8142 6119 M: +44 (0) 7595 068 054 flagshipconsulting.co.uk
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