Page 9 - CDM Exclusive Future of- Cybersecurity Whitepaper with Dr. David G. DeWalt - 2018

accidentally sent out a faulty release — number 5958 — of their anti-virus software, that
McAfee had wiped out every computer in 1,672 companies in 16 minutes.

“When I say wiped out, this is an understatement. Entire companies were unable to boot
any computers. Entire companies were unable to operate their businesses. In an effort to
stop a particularly nasty threat from a government nation state source, we had
accidentally shutdown all the computers that updated with our software that morning,”
he said.

Fortunately for McAfee, one of their engineers realized the mistake and rolled the release
back, and in the process kept tens of thousands of more companies from updating the
faulty release as well.

FORGET LAWYERS AND BREACH NOTIFICATION
ACTS: DO THE RIGHT THING

It’s so important to always tell the truth. Take ownership. Be honest.

Subsequently, he made an incredibly important decision that day. As the news leaked out
and McAfee and his face being prominently displayed on nearly every TV in the world, as
their stock dropped 40 percent, decisions needed to be made. Not a good day if you are
a CEO. But, in adversity there are always true tests of leadership, and this day was one of
those for David DeWalt.

As swarms of media gathered in his lobby for a statement, he made an
importantcorporate video. Against the advice of every lawyer that could reach him, he
decided to quickly publicly air what had happened. He took full responsibility for the
actions of his company and apologized to everyone for harming them. He explained how
they had worked all night to fix a virus but instead they had made a huge mistake. This
video spread virally everywhere. But a funny thing happened. Instead of making things
worse and getting sued, customers and partners became empathetic. The more the media
tried to sensationalize it, the more empathy David and his team at McAfee received.

David ended up speaking to nearly every customer over the next few days. His office was
flooded with calls from the White House, from state governors, from CEOs of many, many
important companies. McAfee dispatched nearly 4,000 employees, and everyone worked
together to fix the issue. Competitors piled on, but it only made things worse for them
and not for McAfee. “Why hadn’t they fixed the virus themselves? Why hadn’t they worked
as hard as McAfee did?” everyone was asking.

Whitepaper Copyright © 2018, Cyber Defense Magazine and Dr. David G. DeWalt. All rights reserved worldwide. 9