The Evolution of Digital Trust and IP Rights

nnLorenzo Leonelli, CISSP shares his views on the criticality ofnmaintaining and integrating a culture of digital trust, particularly innrelation to respecting the ownership of IP within an organization ornindustry.nn

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nIn its most simple form, digital trust is the confidence individuals andnorganizations place in the security and privacy of digital technologies. Fornexample, users entrust both their personal information and money to annonline banking platform, confident in its robust encryption andnauthentication measures.n

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nIntellectual property (IP) rights, particularly in the digital space, arenthe legal protections granted to the creators of intellectual property, suchnas inventions and artistic works like music, code, designs and articles.nThese rights, including patents, copyrights, and trademarks, aim to providenexclusive control over the use and control of these creations.n

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nTrust in relation to digital IP is fostered in digital places when creatorsnand innovators feel they can share and distribute their work morenfrequently, safe in the knowledge that their intellectual property isnprotected by law and defendable in the event of theft or misuse. This makesnan author confident that his work is somehow recognized as valuable andngenuine. In turn, users can have confidence that the digital content theyninteract with is authentic, unique, and free from misuse.n

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nThe shift from the internet era to the era of Large Language Models (LLMs)nhas accelerated the evolution of digital trust because of growing worriesnabout how those LLMs interact with digital IP, alongside algorithmicncomplexity and data privacy.n

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A World Based on Digital Trust and IP Rights

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nOur society is based (not just economically and politically) on digitalntrust and IP rights.Without digital trust, there would be angreat deal of ambiguity and risk in online interactions. This would lead tona decrease in e-commerce, and a generalized climate of distrust and dread innthe digital arena. Without IP rights, people and organizations would notnhave the motivation to devote time and resources to creating novel conceptsnand technologies, which would impede innovation and creativity. The fruitsnof creation would be freely available to everyone without the protectionnprovided by patents, copyrights, and trademarks, which would discourageninventors, artists, and producers from sharing their work if their intentionnwas not to gift it to the world.n

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nWithout going so far into dystopic scenarios, what will life be like if wenare we going to question every phone/video call or any digital contentnbecause we have no idea if it’s coming from a trusted source? We can quicklynsee and understand the order and structure that both trust and IP rightsnbring to a variety of societal aspects such as communication, trade andnassumption of ownership.n

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How Can We Take Care of Them?

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nIn our organizations there are three large groups of activities we shouldnimplement in order to create a safe, trustable ecosystem around us:n

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• n Cybersecurity Measures: To guard against online attacksn and foster confidence in online communications, put strong cybersecurityn measures in place. These include encryption, multi-factorn authentication, and frequent security assessments. This would lead ton every employee feeling they are in a reasonably protected/safe place.n
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• n Transparency and Education: To improve users’ digitaln literacy and awareness, encourage transparency in data managementn procedures and teach colleagues about online dangers and safe practicesn on a regular basis.n
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• n Regulatory Structures: To provide a legal frameworkn that protects user information and holds organizations accountable forn data breaches, enact and enforce comprehensive legislation pertaining ton privacy and data protection. A challenge to achieve and harmonizen globally, but we are already seeing steps in parts of the world towardsn this goal.n
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nIn our daily life, to build a trusted environment would involve:n

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• n Building a digital reputation, working daily onn building a trust relationship with all our “life-stakeholders”.n
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• n Get knowledge/skills/experience certified by welln recognized certification bodies (these bodies already exist and alreadyn have credibility and industry trust).n
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• n Keep our skills up-to-date only throughn n verified sourcesn n , creating a solid background that will be our lighthouse inn distinguishing genuine trusted content from ’artificial’ untrustedn material.n
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nnLorenzo Leonelli, CISSP, is an engineer and owner of theinfosecvault.comnwho has been working in the IT and security sector for over 24 years.nExperienced in managing international projects, he keeps himself updatednby constantly certifying his skills through continuous professionalneducation.

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• Our Cybersecurity Leaders Skill Builders courses tackle a number of key topics, including digital trust. Find out more here
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• At ISC2 Security Congress 2023, a panel of legal and industry experts discussed digital trust issues in today’s IT ecosystem. Read more
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