Behind the Scenes of the Webinar: The Importance of Protecting Your Health Care Organization Against a Cybercrime Attack

You can listen to the Webinar and access the slides by clicking here.

For those of you who have not done a presentation via webinar, the set-up is different from a traditional in-person presentation. For our webinar, each speaker had a head-set and microphone plugged into different phone lines dialed into the webinar vendor, who was coordinating the technical component. I had my laptops in front of me, opened to a customized web page that contained the PowerPoint and that enabled us to preview and push slides to our unseen audience. The page also allowed us to privately IM others on the team and to monitor and assign questions submitted by the audience. The screen from the computer was also projected on the conference room TV.

On the morning of October 23, we tested the sound, checked the slide control features, and took a final look through our assigned notes and slides. It was 15 minutes before our 9:30am webinar went live. Then it happened: Alarm sirens went off with a piercing loud shrill, only interrupted for a few moments with an announcement that this was a fire drill and everyone on our floor had to exit down the stairwell five floors. Evacuation during these drills is not optional, and each room is checked by the fire marshal. Not wanting to face any “fines, imprisonment or both,” for failing to comply, we told the webinar operator we would be back as soon as we could and promptly exited with our support team to the 43rd floor.

As soon as the all clear announcement was made, everyone crammed into the first elevator going up. We sat in front of our respective laptops and positioned our headsets. The time was 9:29. I told the webinar operator that we were back and asked that we start one minute late — at 9:31 — so we could catch our breath.

Perhaps it is appropriate that we went through that “fire drill” before starting our presentation on cybercrime. Like a cybercrime attack, the drill came unexpected and at a time when it was particularly disruptive. Because we were prepared and set-up in advance of the alarm event, we were able to recover and get back on track sooner. Likewise, effective management of cyber attacks requires preparedness before the event occurs. Our Arent Fox team can help your organization prepare for cyber attacks so that you can prevent them or — if necessary — recover quickly. As you can appreciate, we know the drill and have experience working under pressure.