I recently spoke at an information security conference for Lawyers in Manchester. It was a good event, and there were lots of interesting discussions while there. However, it has been in some of the follow-up meetings, with more in-depth conversations that the penny has dropped over one particular issue –access to information. Both legal firms and accountancy firms hold...

The only thing in life that is certain is death and taxes, or so the saying used to go. Unfortunately, if you have a business then there is another certainty, a data loss incident. This might not be a hacker, in fact it is far less likely to be a hacker than someone inside your organization – and that someone could be you. Mistakes made by employees make up around 80% of data loss incidents. How many times have you received an email and thought “I wonder why they sent me that” followed swiftly by “Please delete my earlier email, I sent it to you by mistake.”

I was fortunate enough to speak at the Defending Law Firms from Cyber Attack Conference this week, with the speaking slot directly after Christopher Graham, the UK Information Commissioner which worked really well – as he provided a few stories, the government view on privacy and legislation old and new, and then I spoke about some of today’s threats and risks and more...

Today, we live in an age where the ability to collaborate and share – with our colleagues, our family and our friends – has become critical to the public’s ability to operate as a whole. There has never been so much access to data and so many ways to share it, facilitating cooperation and collaboration between not only between citizens of the U.S., but also abroad. While the private sector has led the way in embracing collaborative tools and services, the public sector is catching up fast, recognizing that by sharing information, results and ideas with citizens, national, state and local organizations can streamline processes, boost efficiency, and build support by being transparent. Communicating with the public has always been an important part of public service, and by keeping the public abreast of opportunities, successes and new information about policies and initiatives, all levels of government can ensure greater efficacy and understanding.