IRISSCON 2025 puts human side of security front and centre
Victims, targets, defenders, and perpetrators: when it comes to cybersecurity, all human life is there. IRISSCON 2025 was a timely reminder that cybersecurity might be a technical discipline but we can’t forget the critical role that people play. Now in its 16th year, the conference has consistently advocated for the good guys, and to do […]
Upending expectations and challenging assumptions: BH Consulting Breakfast Insights 2025
Challenging assumptions leads us to look at things from a different perspective. It was a theme that came through loud and clear from stimulating talks at this year’s BH Consulting customer day. BH Consulting founder and CEO Brian Honan opened proceedings with the greeting “may you live in interesting times”. Popularly – and probably mistakenly […]
How boards can manage digital governance in the age of AI
If there is one statistic that sums up the increasing pace of technological change, it might well be this. Gartner forecasts that by 2026, more than 80 per cent of businesses will implement Generative AI in their production environments. To put this into context, GenAI use in business was just 5 per cent in 2023, […]
How effective is the EDPB website auditing tool for checking GDPR compliance?
Websites change and evolve frequently, so how can organisations ensure their sites stay on the right side of privacy regulations? Regular audits can help them achieve this goal – and the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) provides a free tool to do just that. I will share firsthand findings from an in-depth test, to determine […]
International Women’s Day: accelerating action against online harms
In cybersecurity, danger isn’t distributed equally. It’s a sad fact that women experience higher rates of online harassment, threats, and discrimination than men. This year’s International Women’s Day has the theme of Accelerate Action to address gender inequality, so, we’re going to look at how this subject plays out online. There’s a lot of evidence […]
Artificial Intelligence meets real talk at IRISSCON 2024
There was no doubting the one topic on almost everyone’s minds at IRISSCON 2024: AI. But a hallmark of the event since it was first held in 2009 is visiting speakers who aren’t afraid to challenge popular narratives. The result, as ever, was presentations strong on realism and common sense, short on sales hype and […]
How to apply for the grant scheme to improve SME cybersecurity
Irish small and medium enterprises selling internationally can avail of a grant scheme to review and update their cybersecurity. The Cyber Security Review Grant scheme subsidises both the cost of an initial assessment and subsequent remediation plan. Here’s how the process works: companies taking part must be clients of Enterprise Ireland, the Government’s agency that […]
From Supply Chain to Supply Net: How NIS2 Could Affect Your Business
NIS2, the latest version of the EU Network and Information Security Directive, comes into force on 18 October. That’s barely over three months from the time of writing. But unlike the EU GDPR, which was well signposted for years before coming into effect in May 2018, arguably the same can’t be said for NIS2. A […]
AI is Changing Cybersecurity – So Defenders Need Change Tactics Too
Deepfakes are in more places than we realise, and they’re more convincing than we expect. Some time ago, I bought an electric guitar that looked like a genuine name-brand classic, right down to the familiar logo on the headstock; it turned out to be an elaborate knock-off. The line between what’s real and what’s artificial […]
Celebrating 20 years of BH Consulting
Security, privacy, regulations, AI, and the people factor are big themes that have figured heavily in BH Consulting’s 20 years in business. And those themes were all present at an event in Dublin’s Westbury Hotel this month to mark the anniversary. Founder Brian Honan – the BH in the company name, for anyone who doesn’t […]