As we enter the next decade, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

As we enter the next decade, in-house counsel and legal teams will, more than ever, heavily rely on technological advancements to remain competitive in the market. If they fail to embrace technological advancements, they will soon find themselves at a considerable disadvantage compared to other in-house legal teams.

In I-Berhad, while we take proactive steps in embracing technological advancements for the legal team, we are also extremely mindful of the imminent threats of cybersecurity attacks and breaches. Therefore, on top of all the existing skills, we believe the legal team should also be well equipped with cybersecurity risk management skills to succeed in the modern in-house industry.

The reliance on technological advancements is increasing for legal teams, where all information and data are stored in the cloud. We recognise that this exposes the company to imminent cybersecurity threats, such as data breaches and hacks, which may cause material consequences to the business. Therefore, we believe that the in-house legal team must be equipped with cybersecurity risk management skills by taking the lead and actively collaborating with the IT department to implement security measures to respond to a potential cybersecurity crisis.

Cybersecurity risk management skills first recognise that cybersecurity is no longer an IT domain with the shifting cybersecurity threat and regulatory landscape. In-house counsel is now required to take active steps in providing training, overseeing, preventing, detecting, avoiding and resolving all potential cybersecurity threats and breaches. The in-house legal team of I-Berhad collaborates closely with the IT department to review the organisation’s inventory of networks, data map of all digital assets, software, databases and servers in creating policies to protect the most sensitive data assets. All data assets will be categorised according to their sensitivity and priority. The most sensitive data assets, such as trade secrets and confidential information prone to cybersecurity attacks, will be flagged to ensure they receive the highest possible potential as appropriate countermeasures.

Legal teams should recognise that technological advancements and cybersecurity attacks will grow in tandem. The role of in-house counsel is growing — addressing and responding to cybersecurity risks are also part of their responsibilities.