A crisis communications plan is a заранее prepared playbook that defines who communicates during an incident, what they may say, when updates are sent, and which channels are used. It often names an approval chain, a single source of truth, backup contacts, and out-of-band channels such as SMS or phone if email or corporate systems fail.
In cyber security, this plan matters because outages, ransomware, and data breaches create confusion as fast as technical damage. Clear messaging helps reduce speculation, coordinate engineering, legal, and executive teams, and keep customers or partners informed without exposing sensitive details. Good plans use short, factual, timestamped updates, state what is known and unknown, and avoid speculation. During active incidents, they can also support containment by preventing conflicting instructions and by aligning external communication with investigation needs.