An arrow or a bullet once fired...

Being a lawyer is good business and when you are hurt it does not matter what you pay your lawyer or how much  you pay !

I wonder how much did the lawyer tell his client beyond the FUD spiel and how can anyone think that things like arrows, bullets, emails can be recalled. How can any CEO think that a data breach can be just closed. 


Consider these two news items - one in India and the other across the world in California. 


- Ratan Tata has moved the Supreme Court asking that the Radia tapes be destroyed / recalled etc and that a restraint be put on them. It is a violation of his privacy and more. 


- Sony asks for restraining order over PS3 hack - which was announced in December and allows users to run pirated games etc and bypass Sony's 'technical protection measures'


In both instances the litigants, with due respect, have failed to understand that any data in public domain just cannot be erased or recalled ! It is now a part of history and "history cannot be wished away".


Yes the lawyers will make good money and media has good copy.Strangely media does not make any big noises about the Radia tapes and we all know why .  ,To come back to the main issue - so what should these (such) people do - just avoid going to court and sit tight ? No, Any incident is a learning and such lessons prove to be very very expensive. They are expensive (maybe) because someone overlooked the small risks or did not have proper controls in place. 
It is a big bad world in the realm of corporate or national espionage - this is common knowledge. So, I would not expect the boss of India's largest corporate group to EVER speak on an open line. Like I do not expect the PM to have a prepaid connection ! Nor would I expect Sony to chase  a chimera - it's is funny to see them ask a court to restrain someone to release a crack. How will the court enforce the order when there are multiple partners located in different countries ! And how will the court (or Sony) ascertain that there are no copies in the "wild". 


Like I said... good billing for the lawyers.


Indian corporates have to realize that as they celebrate double digit growth figures and billion dollar M & A's it is necessary to accept the existence of current day threats and risks. 
The powerful and successful move around with the feeling of invincibility or (all round) there is a general sense of complacency. Both lead to situations that one wishes never happened even in one's worst dream, 


Proactive risk management and security is needed like never before. We have not yet learned to tame the beast in various applications and networks that are part of our daily life. One can look forward to bigger nightmare scenarios as mobile computing, cloud and handheld devices hit us.


Jaago (Wake up !) - how many more wake up calls are needed.