The French economic fabric—and its SMEs in particular—is structurally vulnerable to reputational attacks. And almost no one is taking this seriously enough to prepare for it.
On Wednesday, April 8, at the École Militaire, the Directorate General of Armaments hosted a presentation of the findings from theEconomic Intelligence in Defense—the RIDES. Six months of work, five thematic committees, and more than 250 stakeholders interviewed from industry, institutions, research, and academia. Among the findings that emerged across all roundtables: the French economic fabric—and in particular its SMEs — is structurally vulnerable to reputational attacks. And almost no one is seriously preparing for them.
This is not an issue reserved for large corporations. That is precisely the problem.
A reputational attack is first and foremost an economic attack
The chair of the Influence Committee laid out the problem bluntly: “We must be extremely realistic about the reality of the threat and the competition. We must stop telling ourselves that we are so nice or so strong that we won’t be attacked.” A statement that sums up a widespread denial within the French industrial sector.
For the mechanisms of informational influence—fake news, manipulation of search results, destabilization campaigns on professional networks, digital identity theft—have become full-fledged weapons in economic competition. And in this tense geopolitical context, as noted at the outset, “the economic fabric is a flashing target.”
For an SME subcontracting for the defense industry, the immediacy of such an attack is brutal. There is no 18-month crisis communication plan. There is a contract in progress, a bid on the table, financial partners scrutinizing your reputation. As one speaker put it with striking clarity: “A financial attack that causes you to lose a contract could potentially determine the company’s lifespan.”
The first problem: you won’t see it coming
Detection is the weak link. Not due to a lack of tools, but a lack of culture and processes. Yet, operational common sense is simple: “When you face a reputational attack, you first have to see it. And the sooner you see it, the better you can respond.”
But you still have to be looking. Most executives at industrial SMEs have neither a structured online reputation monitoring system, nor a map of their informational exposure, nor a crisis response procedure. The result, described bluntly during the discussions: “When you’re under attack, you’re emotional. Sometimes you don’t have the right reflex at the right moment.” You respond disproportionately, you exacerbate the Streisand effect, or you remain silent for too long and let the opposing narrative take hold.
The second blind spot is identifying the threat. The speakers emphasized a preliminary question that is too often overlooked: “Are you a direct target, or are you collateral damage?” The answer entirely determines the response strategy—and many companies never ask themselves this question.
What to do—in practical terms
Three fundamental reflexes, before anything else:
- Know who you are digitally. The recommendation made during the session is straightforward: “figure out who you already are, so you have a basis for knowing what you’ll be attacked on.” Audit your digital footprint: what appears about you in search engines, what’s circulating about you on professional networks, what your partners see when they search your name.
- Identify your vulnerabilities before your adversaries do. Vigilance cannot be improvised. As one speaker on the compliance track noted: “Today we are all being monitored by social media, by NGOs, by competitors, by rival nations. The slightest misstep will become public knowledge.” This reality also applies to your online reputation.
- Have a reflex kit, not just a toolbox. This is the phrase that came up repeatedly in our discussions: when facing an information attack, “in this type of situation, what should my first reflexes be?” Who do we call? Who approves the public response? Who contacts strategic partners? This response plan must be in place before a crisis strikes. Just like a fire safety plan.
The issue is no longer optional
Global economic competition is now also played out in the informational and cognitive arena. French companies operate in an environment where, as the Director of Defense Industry summarized in closing, “information is a major strategic lever”—and their reputation is an asset as valuable as their patents or their order books.
Treating it as such is not an expense. It is a factor in longevity.
