Portrait of Alexa King, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary at FireEye, a network security company providing automated threat forensics and dynamic malware protection against advanced cyber threats. Taken at the company's headquarter in Milpitas, CA. Photo by Winni Wintermeyer, April 6, 2015.
Portrait of Alexa King, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary at FireEye, a network security company providing automated threat forensics and dynamic malware protection against advanced cyber threats. Taken at the company's headquarter in Milpitas, CA. Photo by Winni Wintermeyer, April 6, 2015.
Cybersecurity is at a crossroad. No longer resigned to the confines of server rooms overseen by information technology, decisions regarding the protection of data have been forced into the boardroom by events that include breaches at main street businesses and revelations of clandestine government hacking activities.
In an interview with Legaltech News, Google Inc. General Counsel Kent Walker explains: "You only need to read the news—from credit card theft to photo hacks to widespread email breaches—to see the increase in cybercrimes by vandals, criminal hackers and even state-sponsored entities. And those attacks are becoming more sophisticated, even as people grow more wary. Our growing use of multiple connected devices improves productivity, but also expands the attack surface."
Legal teams may be prepared to navigate compliance and risk issues, but the complexity of cyberthreats—not to mention the unpredictable ways damage wrought by them can ripple—demands new partnerships and resources. And while corporations will never get ahead of the strategies employed by cybercriminals, the partnerships engendered by the challenge can make available defenses stronger.