Communications crisis (part 2)

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Breakdown

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 Age Aid's office is in meltdown. More and more staff are losing their work. The virus seems to have spread and has affected everyone. "OK everyone, turn off your computers NOW” instructs Joan, the chief executive who saw something on Watchdog about computer viruses.

What next?

The office is quiet without the hum of the computers and printers. Everyone looks stunned as they think about what was on their machines. "When did I last back up my files?" "Did I save that document to the network or on the desktop as usual?" "Have I lost the photos of my granddaughter?" "Why has this happened?" "What about our campaign?" 

Joan picks up on the anxious, confused mood and takes everyone to the Mill Pot Café to calm down. "I think we all need a coffee and some biscuits. Come on let's leave everything here for an hour and then review the damage when we get back."

The cause of the virus?

In the coffee queue, Emily whispers to Will, "What do you think caused the virus? We've never had anything like this happen before. But I have noticed that people have been using their computers for more and more non-work things." She then starts to list the times colleagues used their work computers to buy stuff on eBay, signed-up to dating sites and registered for high street discount vouchers. She hadn't really thought anything about it at the time.

Pam, looking anxious, is ahead of Emily and Will in the queue. "I need to tell you something. I accidentally opened an email from a Russian prince asking me to open a bank account for him. I'm worried that I caused all this." Emily quickly reassures her, "no, I don't think it could have been that. Don't worry." Pam orders her pot of tea and joins other colleagues at their usual table in the cafe.  

Now alone in the queue, Will looks nervous,takes a deep breath and says “I’ve been downloading music at work while I’ve been waiting to be given things to do. I've only done it once or twice and was only using sites I've used before. I haven't had any trouble before. I thought it would be ok. I'm really really sorry." Emily isn't sure how to react, her head is spinning.

At fault?

Emily tries to remember “Did I talk to Will about appropriate use of IT at work? Did I include it in his induction? It seems so obvious, so maybe I didn't mention it? Do Age Aid have an official policy on this? Come to think of it, when was the anti-virus software last updated? I’m usually so organised and focussed, how did I let this get into such a mess? I think this is all my fault!”

So many questions are flying through Emily's head. Once the campaign enewsletter has gone out she'll have to review Age Aid's policies so this doesn't happen again. Joan will want to know what went wrong. She'll also need to think about how to deal with Will - he has been such a help recently but he should have known better, shouldn't he?

Back in the office

Back at their desks, Emily and Will investigate the damage. They gingerly turn Emily's PC back on. "The meltdown seems to have stopped - phew! The damage seems to be limited only to the database." They breathe a sigh of relief.  

They look at Will's machine and all looks ok there too. They can use the backup copy of the database to send out the enewsletter today as planned. The campaign can go ahead. With a deep breath, she finds the enewsletter and opens the backed-up database. "Right, we're back on track. Let's get this campaign started," she says.

Have your say

• Was the virus Emily's fault?
• What should she have done to protect against this happening?
• How should she deal with Will?

Have your say on the Millcaster Tales forum.

Useful links

• ICT Acceptable Use policy (Lasa)
• ICT Induction Manual (Lasa)
• Dealing with viruses (Lasa)
• How safe are charity ICT systems? (NCVO)

Other episodes

Read communications crisis (part 1) if you missed the first part of this story.

Catch up with past episodes.