Meet David Hechler, Editor-in-Chief and co-founder (with Lester Goodman) of CyberInsecurity News. Nicknamed “CIN”, it is a free, online publication for lawyers and those who work with them. It launched in March 2018 and is based in New York City. He can be reached at dhechler@cyberinsecuritynews.com.

 

 

Hechler previously was Editor-in-Chief, Metropolitan Corporate Counsel (Law Business Media); Executive Editor, Corporate Counsel magazine (American Lawyer Media); Associate Editor & Senior Reporter, The National Law Journal (American Lawyer Media).

 

 

 

What problem does CyberInsecurity News solve? These days, everyone would be smart to keep up with the ever-changing risks. This is particularly true for corporate lawyers, who have the added responsibility of protecting their companies. We help them do that by delivering timely and practical information.

CIN includes commentary from, and lengthy interviews with, a variety of experts on the full range of topics about cybersecurity. We cover the latest regulations; the sometimes tricky relationship between companies and their regulators; the changing landscape of cyber insurance. How can people without tech backgrounds work effectively with chief information security officers? How can they protect the data they share with outside vendors? These are some of the questions we take on.

We email articles weekly, along with periodic news alerts to a select list of in-house lawyers, along with outside counsel, chief marketing officers, cybersecurity vendors, and chief information security officers. Subscriptions are free.

 

How did you come up with the name?  “CyberInsecurity” captures the uncertainty and fear.  We added “News” to make it clear that we are a media company, not a vendor.

 

What inspired you to pursue this venture?  We had worked together for other publishers in the legal niche, and we saw an opportunity to create something new in a hot market.

 

What’s the scariest thing about cybersecurity today?  It’s likely that every major nation-state that’s a player in this area (the United States, Russia, Israel, Iran, North Korea and China) has the capability right now to do tremendous damage to the infrastructure of one or more of their adversaries — if and when they decide they need to attack. And there’s no way to know when that will happen, what event will trigger it, and what reaction it will provoke.

If one of these entities decided to vent its fury instead on a company, the results would also be devastating. As a sample, look no further than what North Korea did to Sony Pictures. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Pictures_hack).

 

Do you have funding yet?  We do not charge for subscriptions and we do not have funding. Our aim is to boost our readership through free subscriptions to the point where we can attract advertising and sponsorship deals with law firms and vendors. We have formed partnerships with the two largest membership associations of in-house lawyers, the Association of Corporate Counsel and In The House, which have helped raise our profile. We hope these alliances will eventually lead not only to a much larger readership, but also to additional revenue streams.

 

What is your biggest challenge? Convincing lawyers who care about cybersecurity to click on a link sent by someone they don’t know (in violation of the first rule of cybersecurity).

 

What have you learned that you wish you knew five years ago? If you’re the founder, it doesn’t matter if your field is journalism. It’s all about throwing yourself into marketing your business.

 

What book has influenced you? The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage and Fear in the Cyber Age, by David Sanger.

 

Favorite quote: You trust your mother, but you cut the cards. (From my first editor.)

 

What’s your mantra? He who depends on a mantra is sunk.

 

Who would you want sitting next to you if you got stuck for three hours on the tarmac in a 737?  New York Times reporter David Sanger. As far as I can tell, he knows more about cybersecurity than any other journalist.

 

Photographs: Maggie Soladay; owned by David Hechler.
Cover: Clipart.com.

 

Monica Bay is is a Fellow at CodeX: The Stanford Center Center for Legal Informatics, and a freelance journalist. She is a member of the California Bar. Twitter: @MonicaBay.