Blog Archive

Charlie discusses the emerging use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and looks at what changes it can make within your organisation and the positives and possible downsides of using AI. I came across an article on AI and business continuity a couple of days ago. The article had a number of links in it, and in

This week Charlie was a special guest on Episode 22 of the Mind the Resilience podcast, discussing his passion for business continuity, the challenges faced by organisations during crises and his thoughts on emerging trends.   Here is a sneak preview of the episode: Introduction to Charlie: Discover the story behind his journey in establishing

In this bulletin, Charlie shares his thoughts and opinions on the current controversy revolving around the Scottish Government. He dissects how some actions during the COVID pandemic might have affected the country, comparing it to other recent disasters faced by the UK. This week, we saw a sight that, if you are from Scotland, we

Charlie looks at the difference between cyber incident management and cyber incident response and the different set of issues they have to deal with in the different teams. This week, I thought I would write a short technical bulletin. Many people use the terms cyber incident management and cyber incident response interchangeably, but they each

 Charlie discusses the different emergency response and business continuity issues to consider after an incident, and how both teams can communicate efficiently.   This week, I have been working with two manufacturing companies that both supply products to the construction industry. I have worked for several manufacturing organisations and have always had to work hard

 Charlie re-investigates Capita’s hack and discusses how performing a data risk assessment on your organisation may be beneficial in the event of a cyber incident, and looks at what should be included within the assessment.   A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how poor I thought Capita’s response to their hack on the

To round off a fantastic BCAW, Consultant Chloe Mclaughlin, explores the topic of organisational resilience. Organisational resilience is vital in today’s rapidly changing and uncertain world. By identifying potential risks, developing plans to mitigate those risk and establishing effective crisis management protocols, organisations can minimise disruption, ensure business continuity and enhance their reputation. Organisations can follow

Discussing another aspect of Personal Resilience is Consultant Monica Habo. She explain how Self-Care influences business Continuity Although the post-Covid world is our new normal, working practices are a long way away from what they used to be. For the majority of people, working 9-5 meant working 5 days a week from the office, no question.

Senior Consultant Simon Freeston, breaks down personal resilience before, during and after an incident.  During this week so far, we have talked about resilience in several different forms from supply chain resilience to cyber resilience. One of the most important, and in my opinion sometimes overlooked, forms of resilience is personal resilience.  Personal resilience focuses

We are half way through BCAW and consultant Carly Clements presents her views on operational resilience. In today’s ever-changing and developing world that we are living in, Operational Resilience has never been more important than it is now. Operational resilience has been an active area of focus especially after the Covid-19 pandemic hit. In order

Charlie discusses what business continuity professionals can take away from the recent coronation of King Charles III and talks about how we can improve our business continuity responses. Whether you are a republican, monarchist, or not really concerned either way, you cannot have missed the coronation. Most observers said the whole ceremony went off well,

Day two of BCAW and Senior Consultant, Gavin Watt, explores what organisations can do to attempt to protect themselves from supply chain risks. What Can Organisations Do To Attempt To Protect Themselves From Supply Chain Risks? Supplier bankruptcy, trade disputes, political instability, pandemics, natural disasters and cyber-attacks are all seen to be key factors in

To kick start BCI’s Business Continuity Awareness Week, Jamie Lees, Consultant here at PlanB Consulting, writes about todays topic, Cyber Resilience.  Quantum Computing and its Implications for Cyber Resilience In today’s world, the use of encryption to secure digital assets has become commonplace. However, as technology continues to advance, encryption methods that were once thought

In this week’s bulletin, Charlie discusses Capita’s response to its recent cyber attack and gives an insight into how organisations should communicate with their customers after a potential breach. I have been meaning to write something on Capita since I was aware of their hack about a month ago. Shortly after it happened, I went

In this week’s bulletin, Charlie discusses the importance of being prepared for potential incidents when sending staff abroad for work and the importance of communication.   I take a keen interest in anything that happens in Sudan. When I was 18, I spent a year there, working as an English Language teacher in a secondary

Charlie gives an insight into his thoughts on the recent CyberUK conference and discusses how cyber security has changed in recent years.   This week I have been at the CyberUK Conference in Belfast. The conference is billed as ‘the UK’s flagship cyber security event run by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)’. It is

This week’s bulletin has been provided by Gavin Watt (AMBCI) who gives some insight into the current need for business continuity in our organisations and how business continuity can be operationalised. Over the past couple of days, I have been thinking about the past few exercises with clients I have conducted, training sessions I have

Charlie discusses the issue of women being trolled online, including the type of attacks utilised and what women can do if they are being trolled. I was challenged by my wife Kim yesterday evening to write the bulletin about women and online trolling. A couple of nights ago, we listened to the BBC Newscast podcast

In this week’s bulletin, Charlie discusses his thoughts from his recent security conference in Rotterdam and gives an insight into the use of autonomous technology. This week, I have been in Rotterdam at the ASIS European Conference. ASIS, for those who are not familiar with the organisation, is a professional organisation for security professionals. It

This week, Charlie provides some interesting statistics around the payment of ransomware and gives an insight into the amount of money that organisations pay to these criminal gangs. This week and last week I have been umpiring cyber exercises. Both exercises involved a ransomware attack demanding a ransom. When I teach cyber incident management, one

In this week’s bulletin, Charlie discusses what to do in a negotiation situation with hackers, and looks at what we can learn from the situation with Royal Mail and their hackers. This week, with two of my PlanB Consulting colleagues, I assessed the response of the crisis team of a large financial organisation. As part

In today’s bulletin, Charlie discusses how you could salvage your reputation after an accusation, using Online Reputation Management (ORM) companies. Following an interview with Jonny and Louis from Status Labs – an ORM company – Charlie gives us an insight into how these companies work and the benefits of the service.  Imagine…You have been a

In today’s bulletin, Charlie gives his thoughts about Arnold Clark’s recent cyber incident and gives an insight into their response, and what we can learn from this.   For the last few weeks, I have been watching the news of the cyber-attack on Arnold Clark and thought that this week, I should write a case

Charlie talks about our responses after a disaster and addresses some misconceptions about immediate responders. I watched the footage of the response to the earthquake in Turkey with tears in my eyes. The joy of the rescuers when they save a child from the rubble, and the despair of the people who have lost their