DEFENDING AGAINST THE VIRTUAL SMEAR
A “cybersmear” is a special kind of virtual attack that risks tarnishing a company’s brand
For a company, a “cybersmear” can unfold like the plot of a Franz Kafka novel. Unidentified perpetrators launch a public smear campaign that seems to grow organically and in such a way that it becomes increasingly difficult to combat. It is like a man being falsely accused – he knows he is innocent but the concocted evidence puts him in the position of having to prove his innocence. It can be as grave a development as a cyber security breach, (see Once More Unto the Breach), but more insidious and requiring a different mode of defense; it is analogous to libel.
