You are to assume the roles of director of customer relations and director of public relations for BuddyCloud, a company that manufactures and markets stuffed toys for children that have unique cloud-based technology. The president of the company has asked your team to analyze a recent security breach, determine how to proceed and write an official statement from the company.
BuddyCloud's launch of its stuffed toys was during the fall. The company has five different types of stuffed toys to choose from: a dog, a teddy bear, a cat, a unicorn and a panda bear. Once a BuddyCloud stuffed toy is purchased, the accompanying BuddyCloud app is installed onto smartphones. The app asks for user information such as name, email address, name of the child using the BuddyCloud product and the age of the child. The app may be installed onto any smartphone with a limit of four users. During marketing, commercials showed grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends all installing the BuddyCloud app to accompany one child’s toy.
Once the app is installed, those with the app may then record themselves saying a message to the child. Through cloud technology, once the recording has been approved by the parent, the audio message is then available on the identified BuddyCloud toy. The child will see a red light flash on the BuddyCloud toy and know a message is available. The child then presses the red light and can hear the recorded message.
During the first holiday season, BuddyCloud sold thousands of its stuffed toys. It was named one of the hottest toys of the season and oftentimes sold out in stores as soon as shipments came in. The stuffed toys sold for $79.99. Many were sold for double or triple that price by private sellers on online auction websites. BuddyCloud has popular Twitter and Instagram accounts as well as a fan-operated Facebook page.
The problems developed when BuddyCloud executives left the data unsecured. This year, over 800,000 customer credentials and over 2 million message recordings were breached. The most unsettling was the recent finding from a company insider that the technology could be hacked on the breached accounts and the toy could be turned into a spy device. That claim has not been substantiated by outside experts.
The president of the company is unsure how to proceed. The president has asked you to analyze the situation and determine how to proceed. Currently, the public knows nothing about the breach or about the potential hacking that could lead to spying. The president wants your team to write official statements, one appropriate for the general public and one appropriate for social media platforms.
