As we move forward into the new year, we would like to take a moment to thank two of our wonderful employees who earned two commendations for QCC last year.

In May 2011, Gary Evans, Digital Forensic Specialist, was awarded a commendation from His Honour Judge Morris at Lincoln Crown Court, for his dedication in the case of R – v – William Andrew Wright. The defendant was a serving police officer who sexually abused a number of children and used the Internet to pose as a teenage girl in order to groom his many victims. Gary spent many months examining the numerous computers that were seized in this case and his painstaking work helped secure an indeterminate sentence for Mr Wright.

In October 2011, William Walker, Digital Forensic Specialist, was awarded a commendation from the SO15 Counter Terrorism Command for his work on Operation Theseus (the London Bombings in 2005). He was responsible for examining mobile phones and other electronic devices.

Gary and William are both valued members of the QCC team, and we are thankful that they are working along side us all! Fingers crossed for some 2012 commendations!

Current Issue

Risk Specialist provides risk and insurance news, opinions and articles for specific industries and mid-sized to large corporations. Each article brings together specialists from the insurance market and, quite often, risk managers in major corporations to discuss current issues, developments or to share best practice and their experience.

This edition includes:

Barring the cyber criminals
The increasing frequency and severity of cyber attacks and their impact on business can no longer be ignored. But insuring against exposures from a security breach requires more than an extension to a traditional property or liability policy.

Download the full article here (Adobe PDF 318Kb)

Bridging the M&A uncertainty gap
The onset of the global financial crisis has made it more difficult to get mergers and acquisitions (M&A) across the line. Volatility is bringing a new level of insecurity to transactions so companies are looking to insurance to bridge the uncertainty gap.

Download the full article here (Adobe PDF 1.4mb)

Back to Realty
A Europe-wide real estate insurance strategy provides more control and saves money, but expertise and local knowledge is needed to overcome the many challenges and realise the potential.

Download the full article here (Adobe PDF 479Kb) 

Other articles included in this month’s Risk Specialist include:

Risk Roundtable 2011
Elizabeth Stephens, Head of Credit & Political Risk Analysis at JLT Specialty, gives an overview of the current climate and speaks to other members of the Advisory Board of JLT World Risk Review, who use their expertise to analyse specific areas.

Problematic Prototypes
Risks in renewable energy are high and costs can quickly escalate when things go wrong. An insurance policy may not pay out in the way you expect or as quickly you hope.

Case Study – Belo Monte: Generating Growth.
Building the world’s third largest capacity dam in the Amazon comes with its fair share of challenges. Getting the right insurance on the best terms involved a co-ordinated and creative response.

Tackling piracy through cooperation
Since 2007 the shipping industry has been facing a crisis. Piracy threatens any ships that transit the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean – numerous vessels have been hijacked. Sean Woollerson explains the impact on the shipping industry and the options being developed by JLT Specialty’s Energy & Marine Division.

This magazine is only available in hard copy format. To receive a copy please visit this JTL webpage  or speak with your usual JLT contact.

25 January 2012 – 6.00pm-8.00pm followed by drinks
Buchanan House, 24-30 Holborn, London EC1N 2LX

As a specialist in information security, are you/your organisation prepared in case of a cyber-criminal, fraud or other security incidents? Have you tried and tested your response? Do you have processes to record and manage incidents? Do you have a suitable system which would allow you to learn from it and manage remediation? Are you confident that your case management system could also show trends, provide learning from other aspects such as impact, aggregate effect and cost? Do you use the data from the planning phase to post incident to inform your understanding of operational risk? How do you deal with particularly sensitive incidents?

All those questions will be discussed at a QCC briefing (under Chatham House rule) on 25 January 2012 at our London offices, from 6pm to 8.00pm, followed by drinks and canapés.

If you would like to receive further details, please contact Marité on 020 7632 7134 or email briefings@qccis.com

On 16 August, Neil Hare-Brown, CEO of QCC Information Security spoke on the role of the digital investigator to a group of IISP graduates.

“It was an honour to be invited to speak at this event and to support the IISP Graduate Development Programme. I hope that many IISP members will want to enter the field of digital investigations and commend this important field to them. As a leader in the field, QCC have an on-going initiative to support information security professionals, especially in the areas in which we excel such as digital investigations and GRC advisory”.

The Institute of Information Security Professionals

Briefing on the evidential usefulness of computer data
Keynote speaker: Paul Keleher QC
20 July – 6pm-8.30pm
QCC offices, Holborn, London EC1

Following our successful series of digital forensic briefings, we are pleased to invite you to the next briefing on the evidential usefulness of computer data where we will be discussing the reliability and potential vulnerabilities of this type of forensic evidence, along with the legal implications of it. Computers store enormous amounts of digital data, only some of which will be relevant and helpful. Knowing where artefacts will be and interpreting them correctly is crucial when assessing the validity of the evidence relied upon by the prosecution and the material they have ignored. Best-practice high-tech investigations ensure that digital data is gathered and analysed correctly to prevent case-critical evidence being compromised.

During the briefing, you will hear from 2 specialists in this field:

Keith Bishop, QCC computer forensic specialist, will introduce the subject – defining terms and looking broadly at the reliability and potential vulnerabilities of computer data analysis. He will also give a technical overview and present various scenarios and case studies.

Paul Keleher QC – 25 Bedford Row, will speak on the legal challenges that computers present. Paul appears in Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 in the ‘Leaders at the Bar’ section. He is experienced in all areas of serious crime, including terrorism, homicide, drug trafficking and fraud. He is recognised as not only an outstanding trial advocate but also for his interest in the practice and development of the law, from being awarded a First in Company Law, specialising in insider dealing whilst still an undergraduate, to writing and lecturing on various aspects of criminal law. He is acknowledged as an expert in cases involving information technology, computer use and misuse and mobile phones.

As we are an accredited SRA external CPD provider, you will be able to claim 2 hours of CPD credit – please use reference DYM/QCCI. To book a free place, please send an email to briefings@qccis.com or phone Marité Stragier, on 020 7632 7134.