06th Apr 2023
Launched just over four months ago on 30 November 2022, the chatbot ChatGPT developed by Open AI – and described by Elon Musk as “scary good” – has been the […]
23rd Feb 2023
As a highly advanced artificial intelligence language model, ChatGPT has the potential to revolutionise the legal industry in various ways. Here we look at how ChatGPT influences the future legal […]
19th Jan 2023
Machines are learning – your texts can be predicted; your navigation system can advise you to go on a different route if there is traffic ahead; your car knows to […]
25th Oct 2022
HCR’s crypto asset recovery team, led by Steven Murray, obtained the first summary judgment in a crypto case from the High Court of England and Wales, securing the return of […]
24th Oct 2022
Whilst Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) quickly followed the advent of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, they have for some time been viewed in some spheres as little more than unique jpegs. Granted, […]
20th Oct 2022
In early October, Birmingham became the epicentre for all things tech as Birmingham Tech Week hit the city. It was the perfect blend of entrepreneurial spirit and inclusiveness: from Growth […]
20th Oct 2022
This article will explore whether the increasing trend of using CC0 copyrights on NFTs is really the best direction for the NFT market. Quick recap – what is an NFT? […]
12th Oct 2022
Since first launching in 2009, the cryptoasset market has exploded with an estimated value of more than $3tn at its peak in November 2021. This combines mainstream cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, […]
11th Oct 2022
The UK government plans to introduce significant reforms to the UK GDPR regime in the new Data Protection and Digital Information Bill (DPDIB). The bill was presented to Parliament on […]
25th Apr 2022
Over the last four years, since the introduction of the GDPR, compliance has grown in importance when assessing businesses for investment and sale. Lengthy due diligence reviews often turn up […]
27th Jan 2022
GDPR and blockchain – can they coexist? Or is the tension between them too large a hurdle to overcome? Dan Hyde, partner and cyber and data security expert at HCR […]
24th Jan 2022
What does cyber risk really mean for your business? What stops organisations engaging with and improving their cyber security? Often, the technical jargon around cyber security is off-putting and can […]
24th Jan 2022
In a connected society where we engage, buy, and sell services from the online world, cyber security is having a daily impact on our lives – both personally and professionally. […]
24th Jan 2022
How can people invest in cryptoassets safely? Does HMRC view crypto currency in the same way as the notes in our wallets? Cryptoassets differ from money in the usual sense […]
24th Jan 2022
How can we train artificial intelligence (AI) to detect cyber-attacks and respond in real-time? What data can we collect that allows us to differentiate between malicious and trusted activity? We […]
21st Jan 2022
Getting your cybersecurity policies, business continuity and disaster recovery policies right from the outset saves time, money, and stress later on. A draft policy is no use if you don’t […]
04th Jan 2022
Blockchain has the potential to transform the way we live and work together. However, as there is a general lack of understanding of the technology, is the vision living up […]
08th Dec 2021
Your digital footprint can take many forms. Historically, this would be a work of art or a piece of music; now, we must think about things like betting accounts and […]
08th Dec 2021
Every business is susceptible to insider attack, irrespective of size or industry – no one knows this more than Susanna Berry of Blacksmiths Group, who has focused on the issue […]
08th Dec 2021
Understanding the funding options and what makes your business investible are crucial to scaling up your business successfully. Aimed at owners and managers of early stage tech and cyber businesses, […]
02nd Dec 2021
Cyber-attacks can have a devastating impact on a company; it can be even more devastating when the attack is made by an employee or other insider. The trusted insider has […]
01st Dec 2021
Cyber-attacks can have a devastating impact on a company; they are even more devastating when the attack is made by an employee, which is more common than you may think. […]
01st Dec 2021
Your data is being held hostage; what do you do? Businesses of all sizes in all industries can find themselves the targets of ransomware attacks. If it happens to your […]
01st Dec 2021
Building your business from series A and start-up to a substantial organisation is a challenge. However, it is also at this point in the life cycle where founders may ask […]
01st Dec 2021
Why is cyber insurance essential for a 21st century business? Cyber risk is increasing, with a recent government survey suggesting that over 60% of large companies and over 30% of […]
18th Oct 2021
In our increasingly busy digital lives, it is all too easy to hit send without checking if the ‘autofill’ has identified the correct recipient. Or you have not moved the […]
14th Oct 2021
The issues which may arise when someone dies without making provision for access to their digital assets can be many and complex. They may be financial (such as when the […]
08th Oct 2021
HMRC’s recent publication of their Cryptoassets Manual gives us an insight into their view on the location (residence) of cryptocurrency assets – they take the view that cryptocurrency is […]
07th Oct 2021
Earlier this week Facebook suffered an outage which affected billions of users from accessing platforms including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The interruption lasted for a period of six hours and […]
01st Oct 2021
All businesses operate with risk. How that risk is anticipated, assessed, mitigated, and managed, determines business success. Providing expertise on cyber security from the FBI to start-up tech companies, HCR’s […]
10th Sep 2021
One of the themes of our Cyber Conference, which is running 21-23 September 2021, is the law in relation to cyber fraud. We’re delighted that one of the world’s leading […]
03rd Sep 2021
A new consultation is to be launched shortly by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport to look at ways to increase trade and innovation through a development of […]
12th Aug 2021
The Integrated Review (IR) published on 22 March 2021 outlined the U.K.’s ambition to become a science and technology superpower by 2030. At the forefront of the ambition lies cyber […]
28th Jul 2021
Q. What is cryptocurrency? A. HMRC defines crypto assets, or cryptocurrencies, as “cryptographically secured digital representations of value or contractual rights that can be transferred, stored and traded electronically”. In […]
28th Jul 2021
The case of Litecoin Foundation Limited v Inshallah Ltd and others [2021] has reinforced and clarified the law around passing off – in this case in relation to a cryptocurrency […]
09th Jul 2021
Romanian bitcoin billionaire and crypto exchange founder, Micrea Popescu, died suddenly, aged 41, leaving behind more than 1bn Bitcoin tokens. It is understood that he was behind the drive to […]
01st Jul 2021
On 30 June 2021 newsfeeds were awash with details that over 700m LinkedIn users’ personal information had been put up for sale on RaidForum a week earlier. This was discovered […]
01st Jul 2021
Talking NFTs and tax during Wales Tech Week, our Head of Technology Nicola McNeely interviewed NFT collector and enthusiast Pranksy and dug down into some of the myths surrounding the […]
30th Jun 2021
Once again negotiations between the EU and the UK have run down to the wire. The transition period for data transfers between the bloc and the UK was due to […]
25th Jun 2021
The story of the last three years and European General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR) has been interesting. It began with the initial panic and floods of emails received as […]
21st Jun 2021
When the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect back in May 2018, the UK was still part of the EU and no-one had ever heard of Covid-19. We […]
21st Jun 2021
25 May 2021 marked the three-year anniversary of the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – what a busy three years it has been! GDPR was introduced as […]
11th Jun 2021
All businesses operate with risk. How that risk is anticipated, assessed, mitigated and managed, determines business success. To that end HCR’s risk advisory lawyers are coming together with a range […]
10th May 2021
The term “cyber risk” covers any risk connected with the use of technology and data. And the cyber risk to UK business grows every day, threatening to bring companies to […]
07th May 2021
The description of cities of the future as ‘smart cities’ has become a term of art synonymous with improved functionality and interconnectivity, which could bring quality of life improvements and […]
28th Apr 2021
Join us for three days of expert advice, networking and thought leadership conversation on all things cyber at our online Cyber Conference from 21-23 September. Cheltenham’s Golden Triangle will be […]
23rd Apr 2021
Many people will be aware of the press coverage about the ever-increasing value of bitcoin and other alternative crypto currencies. Crypto currencies can be used to buy goods throughout the […]
06th Apr 2021
News last week suggested that one third of UK pension schemes may have suffered a data breach or cyber-attack in the past 12 months. Also, it has emerged that over […]
26th Mar 2021
The title of this blog reflects the parallel themes between Garcia Marquez’s masterpiece novel ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’ (published in 1988) and the situation we now face in […]
19th Mar 2021
Throughout the Covid era, the FCA has continued to launch investigations and enforcement action against those regulated financial services’ firms and senior individuals that it suspects have broken its rules. […]
10th Jan 2021
With people spending more time online, and record numbers of people accessing work systems from home networks, cyber security has been a chief concern for employers during this pandemic. Barracuda, […]
10th Jan 2021
Levels of cybercrime increased exponentially during lockdown, as hackers took advantage of the weakened digital defences of home-workers. New research, published in our Future Workspaces report, suggests that Q1 of […]
05th Jan 2021
Proposals to increase government powers to investigate mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are currently moving through Parliament. The bill is well-intentioned and necessary, although if its procedures are not rationalised there […]
04th Nov 2020
When we think about cyber security, we often think about the external threats and the well-known dangers that are hackers or phishers. But in focusing on the external threat, many […]
04th Nov 2020
Crypto assets or digital assets traditionally included things like photographs or copyright on works of musical recordings. But our increasing use of electronic devices means the definition has become a […]
29th Jul 2020
How did the breach take place? Friday 12 May 2017 was a Black Friday in the truest sense of the word – not a day of panic in trying to […]
15th Apr 2020
Mainstream financial markets are facing Covid-19 induced downturn. The Bank of England, along with other financial institutes across the globe, has made it known that it is willing to purchase […]
27th Mar 2020
As a nation we are conducting the largest remote working experiment possible. It will therefore come as no surprise that Covid-19 now potentially also poses the largest cyber security threat […]
23rd Mar 2020
The Covid-19 virus is causing unprecedented impact across the globe. We are already witnessing an increase in the use of technology and a decline in the use of physical cash […]
10th Feb 2020
If pressed, could you explain what blockchain is, who uses it, why, what for and whether it’s actually the same as Bitcoin? Fortunately we can – in the first of […]
10th Feb 2020
Crypto merchants If you buy or sell anything, you will encounter blockchain sooner or later. Crypto merchants are emerging on the high street more and more, even if you don’t […]
28th Jan 2020
Controversial technology The Metropolitan Police have announced they will shortly begin the operational use of Live Facial Recognition Technology, saying that it will “tackle serious crime and help protect the […]
04th Dec 2019
Crypto assets are a property Crypto assets should now be treated as property as a matter of principle, according to the Chancellor of the England and Wales High Court, Lord […]
28th Nov 2019
New cyber security threats The way businesses operate is constantly evolving and there has been an exponential growth of internet services including online data storage in recent years. As these […]
23rd Sep 2019
Bitcoin is essentially a computer file which is stored in a ‘digital wallet’ accessible on a smartphone or computer. You can receive bitcoin to your digital wallet from others and […]
27th Aug 2019
There are now more operational devices in the world than people, and each device is a potential way in to your systems for hackers, whether they are government spies, commercial […]
15th Aug 2019
In January this year, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a consultation paper setting out its proposals for guidance on cryptoassets; in particular it looks at where cryptoassets would be […]
02nd Aug 2019
Cryptocurrency has been seen as an emerging market in recent years, but we could be set to see the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) imposing a ban on the sale, marketing […]
20th Jun 2019
Addressing cyber security threats with as much urgency and focus as any health and safety risk is the way forward for schools, Kristine Scott, head of our education sector, has […]
20th Mar 2019
For almost a decade, there has been a growth in the popularity of cryptocurrencies and virtual currency, such as Bitcoins and Litecoins, as their market capitalisation continues to experience significant […]