Despite us having talked about it for months, day 3 of the Northumbrian Water Group Innovation Festival has been and gone. In the main the weather was good though we did have a short shower that freshened the ground up and relieved some of the pressure. The poffertjes, small pancakes, covered in syrup and whipped cream also helped and were a nice balance to the subject we were covering.
The final day was all about resilience. 87% of businesses have admitted to being victims of a cyber attack this year while a significantly lower percentage believe they have the skills to deal with such an attack. It seems inevitable therefore that some sort of breach will occur and we wanted to consider how businesses, especially small and medium ones would cope.
Most, by their own admission, aren’t geared up to cope and so our aim was to be able to put something together that, while not giving them the answers, shows the questions that they need to be asking. When push comes to shove only the business can answer the questions about what it would do if it was attacked. Only they are well enough placed to understand who their customers or suppliers are and the nuanced way that the work gets done.
We considered what would need to be considered in their business continuity and communications plans, if indeed they have them and at the same time compiled a list of places and people that businesses could go to for advice, either before or during an incident. Graham did a great job bringing this all together.
A lot of stuff needs to be written up and will then be posted on a number of sites including CyberNorth.biz. Note to self – make sure you have internet access even if all your other systems are hacked.
The festival is over now for this year apart from some wrapping up. We had an amazing time and gave some considerable thought to three important issues affecting the sector. I also got to have lunch and drinks with the other sponsors and made some new and interesting contacts.
What next then? We’ve pitched for some funding to help support one of the ideas that came out of one of the daily dashes and it could be that we have some money to do it all again next year. That’s something to look forward to.
Next stop #CyberFest!
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 