IMC 618 - Public Relations Campaign

IMC 618
Stephanie Heikkila Holman
Week 8 - Final
7/6/2016
Public Relations Campaign

SecureWorks: IMC 618 Public Relations Campaign 2
Table of Contents
Executive Summary......................................................................................................................... 2
External Environmet........................................................................................................................ 3
The Industry..................................................................................................................................... 3
The Client......................................................................................................................................... 6
Products and Services...................................................................................................................... 7
Managed Security Services...................................................................................................... 7
Threat Intelligence................................................................................................................... 8
Security and Risk Consulting .................................................................................................. 8
Incident Response Services...................................................................................................... 9
Promotions....................................................................................................................................... 9
Market Share.................................................................................................................................... 9
Competition................................................................................................................................... 10
Resources....................................................................................................................................... 11
SWOT Analysis............................................................................................................................. 11
Public Profiles................................................................................................................................ 13
Situational Analysis....................................................................................................................... 14
Core Problem Statement................................................................................................................ 14
Campaign Goal.............................................................................................................................. 14
Campaign Objectives..................................................................................................................... 15
Key Publics.................................................................................................................................... 15
Small Business Owners.......................................................................................................... 15
Financial Investors................................................................................................................ 17
Corporate Executives ............................................................................................................ 20
Strategy and Tactics....................................................................................................................... 22
Evaluation...................................................................................................................................... 25
Calendar and Budget...................................................................................................................... 28
References...................................................................................................................................... 29
Attachments:
Budget
Calendar

Executive Summary
SecureWorks has become a company that views information security at a 360 degree level. Through
managed security services, threat intelligence, consulting, incident response, and cloud security Secure-
Works is positioned to help businesses both big and small to protect their most valuable information and
in turn their reputations.
SecureWorks has the capabilities and resources to become a global leader in information security.
However, their market share pales in comparison to their dominating competitors. Due to financial losses
and a disappointing debut on the stock market this past spring SecureWorks now is facing a public con-
fidence issue.
This proposed campaign aims to build confidence and grow sales through engagement and commu-
nication over a span of 12 to 18 months with a budget estimate just under $23,000. SecureWorks will
use both digital and traditional mediums to educate key public such as small business owners, financial
investors, and C-level executives on not only the company’s services, but on cybercrime and information
security as a whole. There is a lack of education and understanding among these groups about information
security and its necessary role in both current and the future business. By educating and interacting with
the groups, as well as reaching out to the media, SecureWorks can position itself as an authority in the
field of cybersecurity, increase sales as well as stock value, and its build public confidence up once again.

The External Environment
In recent years, cybercrime has extended well beyond just stealing email passwords. Companies of all
sizes and even the United States Government are not immune to dangerous attacks. The threat of cyber-
crime is very real and increasing every year. Gemalto, a leading digital security firm, reports that “more
than 1,500 data breaches led to one billion data records compromised worldwide during 2014. These
numbers represent a 49% increase in data breaches and a 78% increase in data records that were either
stolen or lost compared to 2013” furthermore, cybercrime is becoming more damaging as criminals no
longer just want access to your financial, they want to steal your identity. Germalto’s report continues:
“the main motivation for cybercriminals in 2014 was identity theft with 54% of the all data breaches being
identity theft-based, more than any breach category including access to financial data. In addition, identity
theft breaches also accounted for one-third of the most severe data breaches” (Gemalto, 2015).
In addition to and in response to the increasing threat, the United States Government has also imposed
cybersecurity regulations on some of the most vulnerable organizations such as financial institutions and
healthcare providers. The United States Government states that the regulations “enhance the cybersecu-
rity of infrastructures determined by the Secretary to be critical to national security, national economic
security, and national public health and safety” (“Cybersecurity regulatory framework for covered Criti-
cal Infrastructure Act,” 2013).
The Industry
The cyber security industry got its start in 1988, when Robert Morris created the first “worm” to infect
the internet. Morris’ intentions were harmless, but never the less he was persecuted under the first cyber
security laws and his actions had profound impact on the digital world. Timothy Lee writes about the
event in a 2013 article for The Washington Post:
But the most significant effect of the worm was how it permanently changed the culture of the Internet.
Before Morris unleashed his worm, the Internet was like a small town where people thought little of leav-
ing their doors unlocked. Internet security was seen as a mostly theoretical problem, and software vendors
treated security flaws as a low priority.

The Morris Worm destroyed that complacency. It forced software vendors to take security flaws in their
products seriously. It invigorated the field of computer security, creating a demand for such experts in
both academia and industry. Today, the Internet is infested with malware that works a lot like the software
Morris set out to build a quarter-century ago. And the community of Internet security professionals who
fight these infections can trace the roots of their profession back to the events of November 1988. (Lee,
2013).
Since the Morris Worm, the internet has taken a more prominent role in the average person’s daily
life. We shop, bank, pay bills and correspond on the internet frequently and every input of information
we provide online organizations with has the potential to be stolen during a cyber-attack. The threat of
cyber-attacks and the amount of damage one could cause has grown over the past two decades. Price-
waterhouseCoopers reports in their annual Global State of Information Security survey that cybercrime
attacks have increased 38% just in the past year with an increase of 56% when it comes to intellectual
property theft. These attacks caused an average loss of 2.5 million dollars to those companies surveyed
(PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2016).
With the rise of cybercrime, both in frequency and sophistication, cyber security has become big busi-
ness. Forbes reports that “Worldwide spending on information security will reach $75 billion for 2015, an
increase of 4.7% over 2014, according to the latest forecast from Gartner, Inc. The global cybersecurity
market is expected to be worth $170 billion by 2020, according to Hemanshu “Hemu” Nigam, founder
of security advisory firm SSP Blue, and an expert in online safety and privacy who has led security ef-
forts at Microsoft and News Corporation. The cyber security market is estimated to grow at a compound
annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.8% from 2015 to 2020, according to a report from Markets and Markets”
(Morgan, 2015). Organizations are steadily realizing that the more they invest in cybersecurity, the more
money they will save by avoiding dangerous breaches. The increase in security budgets opens up new
opportunities for companies who specialize in warding off cyber-attacks and keeping information safe,
such as SecureWorks of Atlanta, Georgia.

The Client
Michael Pearson and Joan Wilbanks founded SecureWorks in Atlanta, Georgia in 1999, with Michael
Cote joining the company as CEO in 2002. SecureWorks became a well-recognized provider of
“information security” (NASDAQ, 2016) who expanded their capabilities in 2006 with the acquisition
of LURQH, another leader in information security at the time, that now allowed the company’s access to
LURQH’s “award-winning Security Information and Event Monitoring (SIEM)” system (SecureWorks,
2006). In 2009 SecureWorks once again grew their company by buying the managed security services
segment of VeriSign. This purchase allowed SecureWorks to “strengthen its leadership position as a glob-
al, pure-play security services provider that delivers powerful and effective security services to organiza-
tions of all sizes.” (SecureWorks, 2009). SecureWorks was now a top global player in the cybersecurity
field. The company’s services and reach attracted Dell, who bought SecureWorks in 2011 to position the
company as “closer competition with security service providers such as Verizon Business and Symantec”
(Kanaracus, 2011). SecureWorks then became “Dell SecureWorks,” which now boasted an employee
count of over 100,000 (Tractica, 2014) to serve 4,200 clients in over 59 countries (SecureWorks, n.d.).
However, Dell quickly found that customers preferred to have their managed security services not directly
linked to Dell:
Rory Sanchez, CEO of SL Powers, a top Dell security partner based in West Palm Beach, Fla. “Cus-
tomers and partners would feel more comfortable with SecureWorks as a third-party company -- an arm’s
length away from Dell. It makes SecureWorks a more independent company.”
With SecureWorks on its own, Sanchez said, customers would feel more confident with regard to the
security services provided by the business. “A lot of clients want an outside vendor monitoring security,”
he said (Burke, 2015).
SecureWorks became a subsidiary Dell and filed to become an IPO in 2015. In their filing SecureWorks
also released their mounting losses. Sue Chang of Market Watched reported that “SecureWorks reported
a loss of $18.5 million on revenue of $88.2 million in the quarter ended Oct. 30. Funds raised via the IPO
will be used for working capital and general corporate purposes, according to the filing” (Chang, 2015).

Though many outlets reported that SecureWorks would have a favorable debut of around $17 a share
on the NASDAQ, the opposite occurred. SecureWorks stocks closed at around $14 (Balakrishnan, 2016).
This was a blow to the company, but the mounting losses of recent years were cited as a reasoning for
the lack of investor interest. Enrique Salem, managing director of Bain Capital Ventures commented on
the predicament in an interview with Reuters, stating that “Investors have an appetite for cyber security
IPOs but are looking to buy into companies that are more profitable than SecureWorks” (Reuters, 2016).
Products and Services
SecureWorks currently offers services in managed security, threat intelligence, security and risk consult-
ing, and incident response.
Managed Security Services
SecureWorks states that their Managed Security Services are conducted by certified security experts 24
hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. Under Managed Security SecureWorks offers:
• Advanced Endpoint Threat Detection
• Enterprise iSensor
• Log Management
• Managed Advance Malware Protection
• Managed SIEM
• Managed Server Protection
• Security Device Management
• SIM On-Demand
• Vulnerably Management
• Vulnerably Prioritization
• Web Application Scanning (Dell SecureWorks, n.d.)

Threat Intelligence
The SecureWorks Counter Threat Unit research team helps develop threat intelligence strategies that are
unique to each client’s needs. Threat Intelligence capabilities and resources include:
• Attacker Database
• Counter Threat Unit Support
• Global Threat Intelligence
• Malware Analysis and Reverse Engineering
• TArgetd Threat Hunting
• Targeted Threat Intelligence
• Threat, Vulnerability, and Advisory feeds (Dell SecureWorks, n.d.)
Security and Risk Consulting
SecureWorks’ Security and Risk Consulting operations help audit and increase current security or new
security strategies. Security and Risk Consulting also brings companies up to date on PCI DSS, GLBA/
FFIEC, NCUA, HIPAA, FISMA, EI3PA regulation compliance. Services include:
• Cloud Security
• Compliance and Certification
• Mobile Security
• Network and Web Application Testing
• Red Team Testing
• Security and Governance Program Development
• Security Architecture and Design
• Security Residency
• Security Awareness Training Solutions (Dell SecureWorks, n.d.)

Incident Response Services
Incident Response Services are in place for clients to prepare, respond, and recover from cyber security
attacks. SercureWorks offers clients:
• Advanced Threat Preparedness
• Computer Security Incident Response Plan Development
• Computer Security Incident Response Plan Development Gap Analysis
• Denial-of-Service Preparedness
• Digital Forensics Investigation
• Incident Handling and Management
• Tabletop Exercises
• Targeted Threat Response (Dell SecureWorks, n.d.)
Promotions
SecureWorks promotes themselves directly to clients through a sales lead system that alerts the sales
team of engagement from potential clients with SecureWorks content (TechTarget, n.d). More publically
however, SecureWorks attempts to influence the market by positioning themselves as an authority in
cyber and information security. Through thorough research, SecureWorks offers current and timely infor-
mation and resources focusing on modern information security needs and threats. A multitude of reports,
webcasts, white papers, case studies, data, and video are available to the public on the SecureWorks web-
site. Furthermore, Secureworks uses their blog and social media sites such as Facebook and Linkedin to
inform the public of recent and current threats and security accomplishments in the industry.
Market Share
SecureWorks’ market share is currently “0.87% of the global IT security outsourcing, consulting
and managed security markets” (Ferreira, 2016). Because cybersecurity is a continually growing threat,

spending of security is expected to increase to 101 billion worldwide by 2018 and the security market
is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 9.8%, resulting in an estimated $170 billion
dollars by 2020. (CyberSecurity Ventures, 2015)
Competition
The cybersecurity field is large and growing. It is no wonder in an industry that is seeing such tre-
mendous growth that the market share would be saturated with multiple companies offering almost the
same products and services. However, in this market there are some companies that rise above the rest
and become SecureWorks biggest competitors. These companies have respected name recognition and
large employee and client lists. They also have more of a public face as they are more active engaged in
presenting and being presented by news media. Palto Alto Networks for example, have multiple news
stories mentioning their company released monthly as well as a steady stream of press releases (Palo Alto
Networks, n.d.c).
Furthermore, cybersecurity firms are becoming larger. In an attempt to combat the saturation of the
market and to ramp up their security offerings, many of the bigger cybersecurity firms are buying up the
littler firms which in turn makes them a stronger force when competing for sales and investors.
Palo Alto Networks
Palo Alto Networks is a cybersecurity company based out of Santa Clara, California. The company cur-
rently boasts more than 31,000 customers in 140 countries and a 55% revenue growth in 2015 equaling to
$928 million. (Palo Alto Networks, n.d a). Palo Alto is seen as a innovated fast growing company due to
its investment in “next-generation firewalls” and is predicted to move from its current standing of 7% of
the market share to 24% by 2024 (Kuranda, 2015).
CISCO
CISCO has been rapidly adding to its cybersecurity portfolio over the past few years. The company has
acquired cybersecurity firms Lancope, OpenDNS, Pawaa Software, and Portcullis in the past year with

the goal of “building products that are effective against known and emerging threats” (Rodgers, 2016).
CISCO currently holds 2.4% of the market share and has seen a revenue growth of 26% equating to $426
million in the past year (Rodgers, 2016).
Fire Eye
Fire Eye is the current leader in cybersecurity services as they maintain 37.9% of the market share and
pulling in $353 million in revenue (IDC, 2014). In addition to standard cybersecurity offerings such as
managed security services, Fire Eye also offers Adaptive Defense. Adaptive Defense uses the Fire Eye’s
unique patented virtual-machine detection (MVX™) engine, to “Find cyber-attacks that bypass signa-
ture-based tools and common sandboxes” allowing Fire Eye to respond more quickly and effectively to
cyber-attacks (Fire Eye, n.d.).
Resources
SecureWorks is often mentioned positively when it comes to their services and research on tech blogs
and in tech magazines that focus on security such as CRN.com, Forbes Tech, and SC Magazine. Current-
ly many financial news outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, Seeking Alpha, and CNBC have been
reaching writing about SecureWorks due to their debut on the NASDAQ, however the coverage has been
negative as it is often focusing on the revenue loss and poor performance in the stock market.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
• Strong history as an information security leader since the 90’s
• Global workforce of more than 100,000
• Now a subsidiary of Dell rather than Dell having direct ownership
• Experienced leadership and employees

Weaknesses
• Mounting financial losses
• High operation expenses
• Low client list compared to top competitors
• Poor showing on the stock market
• Lack of investor interest
• Low engagement with the public
• Lack of brand awareness
Opportunities
• Already an established company in a fast growing market
• Small business are realizing they need information security as well
• Companies increasing the spending on cybersecurity
• As a publically traded company, SecureWorks is being reported on more and can use those out-
lets to show their knowledge and expertise.
Threats
• Currently the public view of the company is that it is not doing well financially
• Bigger competitors are taking up more of the market share
• Competitors are growing faster and have more positive outlooks from news outlets

Public Profiles
Small Business Owners
While big names and well-known companies are good to have on your client list, small businesses
are also in need of information security. The Federal Communications Commission states that “The In-
ternet allows businesses of all sizes and from any location to reach new and larger markets and provides
opportunities to work more efficiently by using computer-based tools. Whether a business is thinking of
adopting cloud computing or just using email and maintaining a website, cybersecurity should be a part
of the plan. Theft of digital information has become the most commonly reported fraud, surpassing phys-
ical theft” (Federal Communications Commission, n.d.). With the rise of small businesses’ use of online
tools and software their information will be open to attack. Klaus-Michael Vogelberg states that “It’s not
just huge enterprises that are targets [of cybercrime]—any online business is a potential victim. But small
businesses often lack the resources to defend themselves against attack. It could destroy their reputation
and cripple them financially” (Lesonsky, 2016).
Financial Investors
Though cybersecurity stocks have fallen in some way across the board, with the increased threat of
cybercrime and the increase in cybersecurity spending, potential investors are seeing cybersecurity as a
potential money making opportunity. David Floyd of Investopedia.com states: “Cyber-attacks have faded
from the headlines in recent months, and a spree of corporate spending on the sector has slowed. Cyber-
security isn’t a concern that’s going away, however, so value investors should consider taking advantage
of relatively cheap stock prices in the sector” (Floyd, 2016).
Corporate Executives
Coporate Executives are finally seeing that most of their information security practices should not
solely be handled by their internal IT department. PricewaterhouseCooper found in their 2015 US State of
Cybersecurity survey that “76 % of respondents said they are more concerned about cybersecurity threats
this year than in the previous 12 months, up from 59% the year before. We have noticed a similar increase

in apprehension in other research. In PwC’s 18th Annual Global CEO Survey 2015, for example, 87%
of US chief executives said they were worried that cyberthreats could impact growth prospects, up from
69% the year before” (PricewaterhouseCooper, 2015). There is more openness at the executive level to
listen to cybersecurity companies about how best to spend their expanding security budget to protect their
information from cyber-attacks.
Situational Analysis
The market is ripe for cybersecurity companies and SecureWorks already has the capabilities to be-
come a leading global cybersecurity company. However, the market is being saturated with smaller up
and coming cybersecurity companies while the market share is being dominated by the bigger firms. Se-
cureWorks is finding it hard to get their message out and stand out amongst the crowd. Mounting financial
losses and a poor debut as a publically traded company is causing confidence to waiver for a company that
once was seen as a good investment.
SecureWorks must reach out to key publics with a new message to revitalize the company image to in-
crease revenues and overcome bad publicity. As stated before, cybersecurity is an industry that is growing
quickly as companies are becoming more aware of the potential ways criminals could infiltrate their data.
As an already established company, SecureWorks must establish themselves as an authority in the field
and nurture relationships with technology and financial news outlets.
Core Problem Statement
In a heavily saturated cybersecurity market, SecureWorks is not currently considered a top player in the
cybersecurity field due to financial losses and loss of public confidence in the company.
Campaign Goal
By positioning SecureWorks as the authority on cybersecurity, public confidence in SecureWorks’ capa-
bilities will grow and in turn increase revenue through higher sales and new investors.

Campaign Objectives
• Increase both traditional and digital media coverage by 40% within by February 2017
• Increase engagement with key publics by 20% by June 2017
• Increase sales by 5% by June 2017
• Raise stock prices to $17 or more by November 2017
Key Publics
Demographic and Psychographic Profile
There are around 5.7 million small business employers currently in the United States, The United
States Small Business Administration reports that of those employers 51% are male owned, 28.7% are
woman owned, with 17% being equally male and female owned. Furthermore, there has been a rise in
minority owned businesses, who now own 21.3% of all United States small businesses (U.S. Small Busi-
ness Administration, 2014, pg 2). With such a large small business owner population, one could certainly
not generalize about the characteristics of the entire group. To further understand the population and their
motivations we must look at their psychographic profiles as well.
In 2010 Dr. Matthew G. Kenney and Art Weinstein published a paper entitled Psychographic Segmen-
tation of the Self-employed: An Exploratory Study which broke down the small business owner into 4 cat-
egories – Exemplars, Generals, Mom and Dads, and Altruists. In an article with AllBusiness.com Kenney
summarized the categories from his research as so:
Exemplars are the smallest segment. They are the true visionaries in the entrepreneurship arena
that about 30 to 40 percent of new jobs are created by less than 1 percent of entrepreneurs. That
1 percent would be Exemplars.
Generals are the stereotypical entrepreneurs who have an overly developed need for control. They

are usually subject matter experts but have difficulty growing businesses to any significant scale
due to their inability to delegate and lead effectively. Generals think they are great leaders but in
reality they’re not.
Moms and Dads are small business owners who have somewhat parental relationship with
ventures. Their businesses are like a part of the family, and they will often sacrifice their own
well-being (i.e. working for less than they could for others) than close the business. The business
is an important element of this segment’s lifestyle. Small business owners and franchisees who are
willing to trade limited income potential for job security fall into this segment.
Altruists are primarily non-profit business owners. They are driven by the idea of fulfilling a
mission, but often lack the business acumen to maximize the venture’s true potential (Kenney,
2010, para. 2).
Motivating Self-Interest
Small business owners are motivated in their professions because they are allowed to do the work they
“love”, while having the ability to control how their business and schedules are run. (Hinson, 2015)
Current Relationship
SecureWorks is actively involved in reaching out to the small business community and is currently
seen globally as a provider of managed security services primarily for small-medium sized business. One
of the reasons Dell acquired SecureWorks back in 2011 was to expand into the small business market
(Wilson, 2011, para. 9). SecureWorks reaches out to small businesses as a provider of cybersecurity edu-
cation and current events via blogs and social media.
Opinion Leaders
Business News Daily reports that in a survey conducted by the National Association of Women Busi-
ness owners that small business owners are heavily influenced by their personal relationships, peers, and
other small business owners (Helmirich, 2014, para. 2014).

Objectives to Accomplish
Reaching out to the small business community will contribute to the proposed 5% increase in sales by
July 2017.
Primary Messages
• Managed security services protect the business you have worked so hard to create and the client
relationships you have nurtured.
• The threat of small business cyberattacks is real and should not be taken lightly.
• Managed security services save your company from potential monetary losses.
Secondary Messages
• The Federal Communications Commission advises that small business of every size have some
cybersecurity in place, stating “Theft of digital information has become the most commonly re-
ported fraud, surpassing physical theft. Every business that uses the Internet is responsible for
creating a culture of security that will enhance business and consumer confidence” (Federal Com-
munications Commission, n.d., para. 1).
• On average, small businesses can face upwards of $55,000 in the wake of a cyberattack. This
includes the hiring of cybersecurity consultants, lawyers, lost business, downtime, and security
upgrades to prevent further attacks from happening (Brooks, 2015).
• 43% of cyberattacks are aimed at small businesses. Attacks like ransomware, where a cybercrimi-
nal steals your information and then demands money in to return said information, are also on the
rise within the small business community (Sophy, 2016).
Financial Investors
The median age of investors holding taxable accounts (those not associated with retirement) is 51. 41%
of those investors earn between $50,000 and $100,000 a year with 42% having a college degree (FINRA

Investor Education Foundation, 2015, pg. 3). Like small business owners, this large population group can
and should be broken down by psychographic profiles. Ryan Wood and Judith Lynne Zaichkowsky found
through their research, Attitudes and Trading Behavior of Stock Market Investors: A Segmentation Ap-
proach, that investors can be broken down into Risk-Intolerant Traders, Confident Traders, Loss-Averse
Young Traders, and Conservative Long-Term Investors:
Risk-Intolerant Trader: This group has an extremely low risk tolerance, with 80% trading less
than five times a year, yet they monitor their investments on a weekly basis.
Confident Traders: Generally older these investors have higher levels of confidence with 50%
having portfolios valued at $100,000 or more and trade more than 10 times a year.
Loss-Averse Young Trader: This group likes to take high risks yet “feel terrible when they lose
money.” They have low confidence and their portfolios are usually worth less than $25,000. Wood
and Zaichkowsky note that “these investors probably personalize their losses more because they
are young, relatively inexperienced at investing and cannot afford to lose their money.” They also
trade often, more than fifteen times a year using the internet.
Conservative Long-Term Investors: These investors have lower confidence but do not take losses
as personal as Loss-Averse Young Traders. These traders are more likely to use financial advisors
and own the least amount of stocks. They do not check their stocks as frequently as the other
groups (Wood & Zaichkowsky, 2004, p.174).
Cathy M. Pareto a Senior Financial Advisor at Investor Solutions, Inc. states that two big reasons in-
vestors invest is due to potential regret and/or over/under reaction. With regret, when an investor is pre-
sented the option to invest in a specific stock they will question whether or not they will regret not buying
the stock in the future as it may potentially be a very wise investment (Pareto, 2003, pg.3). When external
factors influence an investor’s decision it can cause an over/under reaction: “Placing too much importance

on recent news while ignoring historical data may result in market over- or under-reaction. The outcome
is that prices fall too much with bad news and rise too much with good news” (Pareto, 2003, pg.4).
SecureWorks’ current relationship with investors is not going well. As stated before, when Secure-
Works was set to debut as a publically traded company in April of 2016 many in the financial world had
them set at $17 a share. However, when the day was done, SecureWorks closed a disappointing $14 a
share (Balakrishnan, 2016). There is currently low investor confidence due to SecureWorks’ recent reve-
nue losses.
Opinion Leaders
A recent Gallup Poll researched where investors seek their financial advice. 44% of those surveyed
turned to a personal financial adviser, 35% to a call-in financial advisory firm, 29% to friends and family
and 20% to a financial planning or investing website (Saad, 2014).
Reaching out to investors will contribute to raising stock prices to $17 or more by January 2018.
Primary Messages
• Cybercrimes are increasing, causing demand within industry.
• Increased spending on cybersecurity has increased and is expended to continue to increase in the
coming years.
• As our dependency on the internet increases in both our business and personal life, investing in
the industry now is a wise choice because the demand to secure even more data will increase as
new technologies are released.
Secondary Messages
• Future technology, such as The Internet of Things, is going to expand cybersecurity research and
spending through 2025 (Morgan, 2015, pg 2).
• Cybersecurity spending is expected to rise from $75 billion in 2015 to $101 billion in 2018 and

170 billion by 2020 (Gatlin, 2016, Security Ripe For Acquisition?, para.7).
• Cybercrime is on the rise. According the PwC’s Global State of Information Security Survey
2015, the number of reported information security incidents around the world rose 48% to 42.8
million, the equivalent of 117,339 attacks per day and detected security incidents have increased
66% year-over-year since 2009 (Wealth and Finance International, 2015).
The Stanford Graduate School of Business reports that in 2016 83% of CEOs were male, the average
age of a CEO was 60, and CEOs ethnicities were predominantly white at 91% (The Stanford Graduate
School of Business, 2016, pg 15).
These CEOs ultimately value growing and cultivating their businesses within a well-defined system
that has specific roles for employees to allow both employees and top executives to work cohesively. In
the report CEO Attitudes and Motivations: Are They Different for High-Performing Organizations? Milan
Larson and John Latham explore the common attitudes of successful CEOs. The found that CEOs had
a “need to drive continuous evolution, high focus on systems thinking, low need for sole responsibility,
high focus on learning from the past, high focus on information, and low tolerance for actions that are
inconsistent with the values of the organization” (Lardon, Latham, Appleby, Harshman, 2012, pg. 55).
As mentioned above, CEOs are motivated by the evolution of their companies. (Lardon, Latham,
Appleby, Harshman, 2012, pg. 55). In PwC’s 19th
Annual Global CEO Survey, 90% CEOs cited that cus-
tomers were the highest impact on their business. 69% said government and regulators, 67% competitors
and peers, 51% employees, 48% supply chain partners, and 41% providers of capital. (PwC, 2016, pg.12).
This indicates that major motivating factor behind CEOs decisions are what the customers’ wants and
needs are in the present as well as the future.

Being acquired by Dell back in 2011 certainly made more executives aware of SecureWorks. However
as of today SecureWorks has a client list of 4,200 companies with no case studies provided featuring
larger companies. Their rivals Palto Alto Networks boast over 20,000 clients featuring clients like the
Heinz Endowments. (Palo Alto Networks, n.d b).
Opinion Leaders
CEOs are generally seen as the opinion leaders, but they can be influenced by third parties such as
news outlets. Atlantic Business Magazine states that CEOs “digest” news and information primary
through digital news sites and print such as The Globe & Mail, CBC, The Economist and BBC. Fur-
thermore Atlantic Business Magazine review includes trade reports, journals, personal research and
networking as trusted sources of information (Atlantic Business Magazine, 2015). Futhermore, fellow
C-Level leaders, such as the rising Cheif Risk Offiicer, can be influential over other C-Suite memebers
as it is their job to evaluate and maintain risks: "The Chief Risk Officer (CRO) is rapidly becoming one
of the most crucial members of the management team. A rising number of CROs and numerous regula-
tory risks associated with global business reflect just how important the position has become for com-
panies. Information technology issues are very challenging for risk managers and vastly increase the
breadth of their responsibilities" (N.C. State University, 2005).
Reaching out corporate executives will contribute to the proposed 5% increase in sales by July 2017.
Primary Messages
• Protecting your customer and client information is essential to your company’s customer rela-
tionship and trust.
• It is time to reevaluate current cybersecurity operations and increase budgets because past pro-
cedure and operations do not hold up to present and future threats

• Cyber-attacks are increasing and everyone is vulnerable, protect your company and clients now
against the crimes of tomorrow.
Secondary Messages
• PwC’s 2015 U.S. State of Cybercrime Survey found that CEO’s are “investing in cybersecurity
technologies, more than any other spending category” and almost half of those surveyed stated
that “adding new technologies is a spending priority, higher than all other initiatives” (PwC, 2015,
pg.10).
• “Spending this year on protecting networks and other cybersecurity efforts will total $4.1 billion,
according to PwC’s survey of 758 banks, insurers, money managers and other companies. The sur-
vey’s results, which include the world’s largest banks, are set to be broadly released Monday. The
spending increases represent accelerated efforts to keep hackers out and a realization that previous
efforts haven’t been sufficient” (Huang, Glazer, & Yadron, 2014)
• “Data breaches and cyber-attacks are now ranked as the top threat to a business’s reputation,
along with environmental incidents” (Public Relations Institute of Australia, 2014).
Strategy and Tactics
The threat of cyber-attacks are growing within the small business community as attackers are finding
small businesses to be easier targets due to lack of information security tools and practices (Devine, 2013,
para.4). SecureWorks aims to strengthen their relationship with the small business community by engag-
ing as authorities and educators in cybersecurity.
Strategy:
Educate small business owners on the increasing threat of cybercrime on small businesses as well as an
attack’s ramifications.
Tactics:
• Collaborate with organizations and government programs that help small businesses such as
SCORE, who seek to help “small businesses get off the ground, grow and achieve their goals

through education and mentorship” (SCORE, n.d) by providing workshops and informational ma-
terials on the state of small businesses and cybercrime and actions businesses can take to prevent
attacks.
• A recent study by Constant Contact concluded that 81% of small businesses use social media
(Brynley-Jones, 2016). SecureWorks will provide articles and information on the threat of cy-
bercrime to small businesses and actions they can take to protect themselves on Facebook and
Twitter. SecureWorks will monitor relevant hashtags involving small business and cybercrime
and actively engage with users using the hashtags that are determined to be the most popular and
relevant at the time.
• Present and exhibit at conventions aimed at small businesses such as the Small Business Summit
to educate small business owners on cybersecurity threats and solutions.
Financial Investors
The growing threat of cybercrime is causing an increase of spending by companies to secure their most
valuable digital information. (Morgan, 2016, para. 3). This is causing a steady present and future demand
for managed security services and an opportunity for investors to “get in” before demand (and stock pric-
es) increase even further.
Strategy:
Inform potential investors about the growth and importance of cybersecurity.
Tactics:
• Send educational material to investor’s top influencer- their financial advisors. Eblasts and printed
materials featuring facts about the growth of cybercrime and the growing trend of increased cy-
bersecurity budgets will be sent to top financial management companies such as Vanguard Group
Inc, Pacific Investment Management Co. LLC and J.P. Morgan Asset Management (Pavia, 2015).
• Reach out to those who are considered the most influential financial media outlets, such as The

Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CNBC and Forbes (Coffee, 2015), with educational stories about
the current state of cybercrime and its rate of growth and influence on the market written by Se-
cureWorks executives and employees.
• Prepare and send whitepapers with research focusing on the rise of cybercrime while also featur-
ing case studies showing the successes SecureWorks has accomplished in battling new threats.
These whitepapers will also be featured on the SecureWorks’ website for easy access.
Though cyber security budgets are increasing, many corporate executives are still don’t feel respon-
sible for and are unsure when it comes to information security. They rely on their internal information
security departments, who may not be prepared for major attacks, to do the job when an outside provider
may be needed instead thus leaving them vulnerable (Abel, 2016).
Strategy:
Educate corporate executives about the increased threat of cybercrime and how not being prepared can
have negative ramifications not only monetarily, but also cause significant damage to customer and client
relations.
Tactics:
• Send direct mail and eblasts to C-level executives, especially chief information officers, featuring
facts about the increased threat of cybercrimes and the precautions other big companies (that are
using managed security services) are implementing to ward off attacks and protect customer re-
lations
• 90% of corporate executives state that they do not understand cybersecurity reports (Berkeley,

2016, para. 2). SecureWorks will partner with chief information officers to help construct online/
in person introductory cybersecurity informational sessions to their company’s executives to help
better educate those making the budget decisions.
• Reach out to online publications executives trust such as The Economist and BBC (Atlantic Busi-
ness Magazine, 2015) with stories on cybersecurity risks, ramifications, and solutions.
Evaluation
Objective One
Increase both traditional and digital media coverage by 40% by February 2017.
Tools
SecureWorks will use Mention, a brand tracking tool, to monitor the company’s mentions on social
media, news, blogs, and web forums to determine the amount of coverage the company has received
digitally over the course of 9 months. Mention also has a sentiment analysis that sorts positive and
negative mentions of SecureWorks, allowing the company to see the greater positive impact of their
PR tactics while also discovering what areas they could improve their tactics.
Figure 1. Screenshot of Mention software (Weinberg, 2016).

For traditional media, SecureWorks will keep record of their company’s impressions. This includes
the number of circulation for print publications where articles featuring the company or company
leaders have been published. Viewership numbers of broadcast stories featuring SecureWorks will be
recorded as well.
Objective Two
Increase engagement with key publics by 20% by June 2017.
Tools
Records will be kept of the number of responses via email, standard mail, and phone calls from
key publics. Furthermore, SecureWorks will use Facebook Insight’s engagement tools to track over
the 12 months span the number of posts key publics are “reacting to, commenting on and sharing”
(Facebook INC., n.d). The same will be done with Twitter Analytics where SecureWorks will track
and record engagements, which Twitter defines as the “total number of times a user interacted with
a Tweet. Clicks anywhere on the Tweet, including Retweets, replies, follows, likes, links, cards,
hashtags, embedded media, username, profile photo, or Tweet expansion” (Twitter, n.d). In addition
to Twitter Analytics the software Keyhole will be used to monitor specific keywords, influencers,
and hashtags to determine if engagement and mentions have increased over the allotted time period
(Keyhole, n.d.).
Figure 2. Screenshot of Facebook Insight’s Engagement reports

Objective 3
Increase sales by 5% by June 2017.
Tools
Records kept of sales from June 2016 - June 2017.
Objective 4
Raise stock prices to $17 or more by December 2017.
Tools
SecureWorks will evaluate their stock prices using Wall Street Journal’s Stock Price and News fea-
ture. This feature easily allows for investors and companies to research how much certain stocks are
currently and if they have risen or declined over a certain period of time.
Figure 3. Screenshot Wall Street Journal’s Stock Price and News report

Calendar and Budget
Attached to this proposal is the calendar and budget for the proposed public relations plan for Secure-
Works. The proposed campaign is meant to elevate the SecureWorks brand as well position the company
as a leader and authority in the information and managed security field over a 12 month span.
Starting in July 2016 and ending in July 2017, a series of public relation tactics will be used to cap-
ture the attention and inform the key publics – small business owners, financial investors, and corporate
executives. These tactics both employ the use of traditional media, print and broadcast, as well as digital
media including blogs, news websites, email, and social media. SecureWorks will also be reaching out to
the public as educators by participating in conferences, workshops, and online education sessions.
As SecureWorks will be highly utilizing some free forms of media, such as social media, the proposed
budget comes in at a conservative $14,947. Following the campaign and schedule will not only re-ener-
gize the SecureWorks brand, it is projected to increase sales by 5% in 12 months as well as an increase in
stock market value of $17 dollars a share or more by 2018.

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