Go Book James Lindsay … Now!

Go Book James Lindsay … Now!

As a Professor I get invited to talk at many conferences, and yesterday it was a Resilience and Business Continuity conference at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh [here]:

What struck me as I approach the registration point was that although there were well over 200 people registered, there were only a few registration badges that were unclaimed. I had never seen anything like that in any conference I have attended.

Normally you look at — at least — a 20% drop-off, but it just wasn’t there. This was an eager audience and a great programme, and as I looked down the programme I was impressed that it wasn’t just the same old presenters that we seen at other events — apart from me, of course- but was refreshing in the scope of the talks:

These were true experts in the field, and had been selected as they challenged existing thinking.

And for an afternoon session, the hall was packed to the rafters, and not a seat to be had. There would be no drop-off at this conference. It is now my third year in a row in presenting and I accepted the invite in an instance, as the other events had been so warmly received. And so I presented to a full house:

But the talk after mines was a real highlight of the event and recorded the history of the Cambridge Analytica story:

It really showed how the media could tear into a company, and leave little left, and the human side of dealing with a security incident … there were real people working for this company and were affected by the saga. There were also real truth and not real truths.

I am so sorry that I didn’t more photos, but I was totally captivated by the talk, and it had my full attention.

If you don’t get James Lindsay to come and talk to your company, or at a forthcoming conference, you are really missing a treat in how to cope with a serious cybersecurity incident. It is one of the most captivating stories that I have heard. As someone who reported to the media at that time, I wish I had spoken to James, and understand the background to their company.

I can’t remember all the things that were said … but he did say that your company should get people who can cope with the media. I second that! I normally have it easy when dealing with the media, but I appreciate that it can also be a difficult adversary.