How to manage privacy and security concerns over Zoom
Zoom has become one of the de facto tools of choice as we’re now all working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. As usage has surged over the past few weeks, more people are asking questions about its confidentiality and security practices. In this blog, I outline some of the main risks, and give advice […]
Stay safe: no restriction on cybercrime during COVID-19
Cybercriminals have always used major news events as a trigger for campaigns and the COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak is an opportunity like never before. It’s a unique set of circumstances on an unprecedented scale – ripe for exploitation by anyone with malicious intent. Right now, many businesses are having to adapt to rapidly evolving restrictions; others […]
University Challenged and the school of phishing
The Data Protection Commission’s annual reports always make for interesting reading, and the 2019 edition was no exception. Maybe it’s because BH Consulting’s work crosses into both cybersecurity and data protection, but one detail caught our eye. Phishing was one of the highest ranked causes on the list of data breach notifications by category. The […]
Rules and regulations like EU Cybersecurity Act are a sign of a maturing industry
The older and more mature an industry gets, the more standards it needs to align with. For example, financial services has been around for a long time and is heavily regulated. Cybersecurity is quite young in comparison, but it’s going in the same direction. This is a natural progression, because of the impact that the industry has […]
Staying relevant in the tech sector, Madonna-style
Having served 30 years working in cybersecurity and privacy, I reflected recently on how someone in the tech industry stays relevant, and why that is important. Madonna revisits her brand every five years and reinvents herself by updating her image, getting a new producer, and releasing a new single. In the music industry, this keeps […]
A personal digital privacy plan to help protect your data online
Regular readers will know that we at BH Consulting are passionate advocates for digital privacy in all its forms. So for this week’s blog, we’re delighted to feature Zoë Rose, whose post, “A Guide to Digital Privacy for You and Your Family”, first appeared on Tripwire’s State of Security blog. It’s an excellent long read […]
Absent incident response spells trouble for Travelex
In an ideal world, humans would only ever learn from doing things right, but failure is a persistent teacher. That’s why for every Norsk Hydro or Maersk competently and professionally handling major security incidents, there’s also a Travelex. In this blog, we dig into why the world’s largest foreign exchange company has become the latest […]
Analysis of the Irish National Cyber Security Strategy
The Irish Government has published its five-year plan for ensuring its infrastructure and computer networks are “resilient, safe and secure”. The new National Cyber Security Strategy 2019-2024 is an update to the first strategy which was published in 2015. Here’s our analysis of the plan. The 60-page strategy paper [PDF] sets out a series of 20 […]
CISO as a service helps to tackle ongoing need for security
As cybersecurity gets more attention in businesses and organisations, the need for a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) has come into focus. In the past, many organisations tackled security piecemeal, as a series of point-in-time exercises, but some now realise they need a dedicated resource to manage their security on a consistent, ongoing basis. Many […]
Cybersecurity and data protection in 2019: the BH Consulting year in review (part 2)
Security is a busy field, and 2019 was no exception. Following last week’s blog looking back at the first six months of the year, here’s the second part covering cybersecurity, data protection and privacy stories that emerged between July and December. July Summertime and the living wasn’t easy if your company was called BA or […]