As previously discussed on these pages, 2011 has been a banner year for cyber-attacks on company networks and corporate data breaches involving sensitive customer information. There’s been much discussion of how government and the private sector need to put their heads together on cybersecurity measures, just as laws governing data privacy continue to proliferate around the globe.

In-house lawyers need to stay ahead of these evolving issues in the New Year, says Alan Brill, who has liaised with a number of counsel as the senior managing director of the cybersecurity and information assurance division at the consultancy Kroll. And more often than he would have predicted, Brill says, it’s counsel who point out the digital red flags to their companies.