Small Business Q&A: Kevin Giblin from Mercyhurst College Ireland

In this week’s Q&A Kehlan talks to Kevin Giblin from Mercyhurst College Ireland in Dungarvan, Co Waterford. Kevin has worked with the FBI and Nato and heads the Global Intelligence Forum, taking place on July 12-16 in Dungarvan.

Kevin, what is the Global Intelligence Forum?

Well, my background comes from being at the FBI and in the 1990s a former colleague of mine approached the Mercyhurst College in the US to suggest that they introduce learning in strategic analysis. Then after the September 11 attacks, countries and security services in America and around the world realised that they needed to have people who could disseminate and analyse data. So Mercyhurst was the only real college that was able to produce people with very specific skill sets to fill that need. We grew this forum in order further engage with intelligence and policing organisations. It gives a platform for open discussion on the demands of intelligence and data analysis.

Will you be discussing data security with business?

We certainly will. We will have a separate panel discussion on that. We will have people from all parts of the intelligence community including people who worked under president Obama at the conference. However, this panel will have people in business and who advise businesses on how best to keep their customers and internal data safe. People remember the hacking of the Sony Corporation and the swathes of information that were released afterwards. This was an example of why every business needs to be vigilant in their efforts to keep data safe. So we’ll be discussing how to best do that and what kind of infrastructure your business needs.

Is it fair to say that cybercrime against businesses and individuals is the fastest growing area of crime globally?

I’m sure the statistics would bare that out. Cyber financial attacks have grown hugely in recent years. There are attacks which are generated by nation states, terrorist organisations and criminals. You only have to look at the likes of IS, which uses social media to spread its message and recruit followers. However, we have seen them hack websites and social accounts as well. So cybercrime is certainly very prevalent in the headlines and our discussion forums will tackle this at the event as well. This event will have a multi-discipline approach from all the delegates. You’ll have law enforcement, security delegates, and people from the corporate world and public health sphere as well.

How easy is it for the ordinary business or person to have data taken?

Well I’ll refer you to the beginning of your question, it’s pretty easy. It’s all too easy for people to hack in to systems now and take that valuable information. It’s something we all have to be cautious of and get greater understanding about. There are things people can do to protect themselves and be safe. We’ll have presentations and discussions on that at the forum. Certainly it’s a very important question for times we live in and will be important for many people to see how they protect themselves from harm.

For more information go to globalintelligenceforum.com