As we close out the first half of 2021, Highwire is taking a moment to pause, reflect, and celebrate our successes over the past year. Over the course of 2020, we grew digital revenue by 100% and overall revenue by 24%. We added new clients like Bespoken Spirits, Hitachi ABB, Qualtrics, and Omada Health in verticals across digital healthcare, fintech, and security. And now we’re especially proud to announce new additions to the Highwire leadership team that will anchor the direction of the agency as we grow.  We’re investing in strategic areas of focus including diversity, inclusion and b ..read more

Over a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, and on the heels of national catastrophes like SolarWinds, Microsoft Exchange, and most recently, the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack, the first (and hopefully last) fully virtual RSA Conference 2021 kicked off with no shortage of novel cybersecurity concerns to address.  RSAC CEO Rohit Ghai started off the event with a frank conversation about the challenges that have plagued the cybersecurity community since we last saw one another in person over a year ago. From the Twitter hack in July 2020 and the first hacking-related death in September 2020, t ..read more

Image Credit: GeekWire   As has become the 2021 norm, both Pepcom and CES were entirely different conferences year. Flashy booths and media stop-bys became virtual waiting rooms and video demos. Although the events were virtual, they were still a chance for companies to build relationships with media and showcase their consumer appeal. Fittingly, Pepcom and CES used the very thing they celebrate — technology — to connect exhibitors with media. Booths appeared as boxes with company logos on a landing page, and brief descriptions of each exhibitor — along with a video link — helped attendee ..read more

Still holding on? 2020 was jarring and fast/ slow in all the wrong ways. To help you navigate turns still ahead, we asked the Highwire team for macro-landscape 2021 predictions. Here’s our technology forecast: business applications will drive innovation, ransomware attacks will threaten the White House, and remote monitoring tools will keep flooding the heart healthcare space. We’re betting that Instagram will oust Amazon for lifestyle shopping and fintechs will provoke bank branches to shutter.   Our deep relationships with the media and our clients give us perspective on how techn ..read more

Crisis planning is critical to the success of any organization. While most organizations hope they’ll never have to use their crisis plan, emerging threats and our ever-changing security landscape have made it crucial to prepare for any type of emergency. With 51 percent of organizations admitting to not having any type of crisis plan in place, many companies need to take a step back to consider the types of situations that could threaten their business and plan their response. During Q4 it’s especially important for companies that deal with E-commerce to anticipate likely risk factors relate ..read more

The PR industry has not made enough progress on Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (DIBs) initiatives in the past few years. A PRWeek study sheds light on the disparity: A mere 13% of PR agency board/C-suite members are non-white, while 24% of the workforce is non-white. The Black Lives Matter movement following George Floyd’s death encouraged agencies to think critically about how they can support and uplift Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) voices in their communities and diversify their workforce.  PRovoke hosted a panel discussion on Monday intended to spur change. Highwir ..read more

The Depart of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google for maintaining an illegal monopoly over search and search advertising on Tuesday morning.  It’s been decades since the federal government has taken an action this extreme against a company. Tim Wu, professor at Columbia Law School and author of the Curse of Bigness about the history of antitrust, noted that the suit itself looks like almost a copy-paste of the (successful) case against Microsoft in the 1990s.  In these extremely partisan times, one of the more surprising aspects of today’s news has been the most unifie ..read more

Hello and welcome to the Highwire Cyber and Tech Policy news roundup! September 2020 was a month where the pressure continued to build. Privacy legislation, antitrust movements, and cybersecurity news, including the first death by a ransomware attack, broke weekly if not daily. It was all just a preview for October when the news leading up to the election on November 3rd is going to hit a fever pitch. There’s no separating the Tech Industry from politics now. Hold on to your hats, folks. We’re in for a ride. THE TECH INDUSTRY: A HARD ANTITRUST RAIN’s A-GONNA FALL Antitrust action began to loo ..read more

This year’s Rock Health summit went the way most of our lives do these days–virtually. But that didn’t mean its impact was lessened. As the world’s first venture fund dedicated to virtual health, Rock Health has always highlighted innovation in the healthcare industry. The 9th annual summit, which occurred on September 22nd-23rd, featured new research and speakers covering all things health technology. Not only was the summit logistically affected by COVID-19, but the main content was more impacted by the ongoing crisis of inequality.  As Highwire wrote about in June, racism is a public ..read more

  Conspiracy Theories, Domestic Threats and Clear Communication: The Cybersecurity Industry’s Role in the November 3rd Election   Uncertainty and anxiety ratchet up each day closer we get to the November 3rd Election. Frenzied stories about protecting votes, conspiracy theories, the general security of our elections and the health of democracy dominate the news cycle. The ghost of Russian hacking in 2016 lordes over everything.   This is the first presidential election since cybersecurity’s effect on elections became a mainstream concern. Micheal Daniel is the Preside ..read more