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Articles by Christian Toon
In-house legal and cyber experts must work together on cyber risk
Cyber crime is one of the top three concerns for chief legal officers, according to a recent survey by the Association of Corporate Counsel – in which 37% of the participants identified it as their biggest worry. The survey results formed part of a report by the Financial Times (FT) on the critical role in-house lawyers can play in protecting the business.
NIS2 compliance hampered across EU as October deadline approaches
The EU’s second Network and Information Security Directive (NIS2) will strengthen existing cybersecurity risk management and incident reporting obligations that have applied under the original NIS regime and extend them to thousands of other businesses. However, as we explore below, some EU member states look set to miss the 17 October deadline for implementing the directive into their national legislation.
NIS2 cybersecurity standards proposed for digital providers
The NIS2 Directive on measures for a high common level of cybersecurity across the EU (NIS2) directive came into force in the EU on 16 January 2023 and has to be implemented into national laws across the EU by 17 October 2024. It builds on the original NIS directive which took effect in the EU in 2018.
Supply chain cyber risk among growing global threats
A new report published by the UK’s data protection authority can help organisations around the world better understand the emerging cyber threats they face – and act accordingly.
UK government calls for enhanced cyber security system governance
As the digital economy expands, so do cyber threats, with potential attacks a common occurrence within modern business operations. To address this challenge, the UK government is working to improve cyber resilience across the UK. Examples of this can be seen in a currently ongoing consultation as well as a recent cyber security framework update from the NIST.
Action needed as UK product security regime approaches
Manufacturers of ‘smart’ products sold in the UK face an administrative burden and technical challenges to comply with new cybersecurity requirements due to take effect in less than three months, with associated obligations also falling on importers and distributors, a cybersecurity adviser has said.
US cloud providers to face new AI cyber risk duties
The regulations are to be drafted within the 90 days in accordance with measures outlined by US president Joe Biden in a new executive order he has issued on safe, secure and trustworthy AI. The executive order is multi-faceted. It commits the US government to enforcing existing legislation and to enacting “appropriate safeguards” to address harms arising from use of AI, such as fraud, unintended bias, discrimination, and infringements on privacy.
Expert warns of cybercrime potential of ‘hostile’ AI
Christian Toon, cybersecurity specialist at Pinsent Masons, warned that generative AI was being harnessed by online fraudsters at a “worrying pace”. He added: “A prime example of hostility within the generative AI scene, is software that acts as an attacker’s best friend, a malicious version of ChatGPT.
UK’s cyber security skills gap ‘a ticking time bomb’ for industry
The report (102 pages / 3.19MB PDF), published by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, found that half of all UK businesses employ people in cyber security roles who lack appropriate skills. The issue was found to be particularly advanced in around a third of all UK businesses. Previous reviews conducted in 2021 and 2022 had similar findings.
In-house legal teams can help cyber security leaders combat burnout
Research carried out by UK security firm Proofpoint found that relentless cyber attacks and pressure to fix security gaps amid budget constraints were among the top concerns for chief information security officers (CISOs) across 16 countries.
Simplify case highlights value of cyber insurance
Christian Toon of Pinsent Masons was commenting after the Law Gazette reported how the company behind conveyancing firm Simplify was able to recover the majority of costs the company attributed to a cyber incident in 2021 from its insurance provider. The Law Gazette’s report followed its analysis of annual accounts filed by UKLS Acquisitions Limited for the year ending 31 March 2022.
Human Cyber Index
Be relevant, build trust and focus efforts on security enablement The Human Cyber Index is a measure of your organisation's security culture and its relationship to the productivity of your employees. This allows you to hone your efforts in creating a responsive security culture underpinned by policies and processes that your people find easy to use. Why do I need to worry about my security culture?
Data protection and security in the supply chain - learnings from contracting and incident response
The consequences of a cybersecurity incident can be substantial to many organisations. Recent significant events, such as the CrowdStrike outage, highlight the growing number of incidents in our increasingly interconnected world. Regulators are taking action in response to these incidents and businesses of all sizes must do the same. This includes addressing their own activities and managing their dependencies and connections with third parties in the supply chain.
Combating Digital Threats in the Modern Workplace
The shift to flexible and hybrid working born out of the COVID-19 pandemic has been well-documented, and many organizations have now made this change a permanent one. They have successful adopted and incorporated remote access technologies and cloud-based software to allow employees to work virtually, from anywhere, and access company data at any time, on any device. But, over two years since the start of the pandemic, have businesses’ security posture adapted accordingly?
New code of practice puts cyber security at heart of built environment
Cybersecurity expert Sarah Cameron of Pinsent Masons said revisions to the code, which was first issued in 2014, were timely. “With the exponential growth in Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial Control Technology devices, a cyber physical security vision is an absolutely critical part of the strategy,” Cameron said.
Supply Chain Cybersecurity: How to Mitigate Third-Party Risks?
With supply chain transparency and digital transformation being among the top organizational priorities, cyber-related issues have become one of the top risks to businesses. Most companies don't consider their supply chain vulnerability when thinking about cybersecurity. Yet, supply chain risks could include multiple functions across the flow of information, products and services – needing the attention of all entities involved. Supply chain security is every company's responsibility.
Build a security culture to manage cyber risk
Many of the trends reported by the UK government are positive – cybersecurity has become a higher priority for a greater number of senior managers within businesses; the proportion of businesses carrying out cyber-related risk assessments and investing in threat intelligence has grown, and; more businesses than ever before are seeking external information and advice on cybersecurity matters.
Pinsent Masons launches Cyber Professional Services team
Christian, the former Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Pinsent Masons, will lead the new team as the firm seeks to broaden its cyber capabilities in the wake of an increasingly challenging cyber security environment. The move underscores Pinsent Masons’ commitment to developing professional services which sit outside of the traditional legal skill set and serve to support clients on a broader range of strategic and commercial issues.
Three CISOs Walk Into a Bar
Add to favourites Three CISOs Walk Into a Bar 05 Jun 2019, 14:00 - 14:25 Strategy Talks Language: English Panel Discussion Featuring security leaders from three different industries as well as research from ESG (Enterprise Strategy Group), this panel discussion will take a look a the biggest issues CISOs are currently facing and how they are addressing pressures from all sides: Motivated adversaries, consumers looking to ensure their digital security, and new legislations that mandate...
Four Reasons Why Tape Storage is Needed in the Big Data Age
Four Reasons Why Tape Storage is Needed in the Big Data Age Magnetic tape was first used to store computer data in 1951. By the mid-1970s pretty much everyone relied on tape cassettes and cartridges. Then, with the arrival of data storage discs and the cloud, tape was seen as a dated, costly, inflexible, unreliable technology that few forward-thinking organisations would not dream of using as part of their data storage and protection infrastructure.
The Consequences of Data Hoarding
At some point during the past decade, storage costs crossed a threshold that made it cheaper and easier for organisations to keep data than to throw it away. That technology trend is only accelerating. The cost of disk storage has dropped more than 90% from $1.24 in 2005 to less than two cents per GB this year. Cloud providers further encourage users to retain data by making gobs of storage space available at very low prices. People are responding as you would expect.
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