The ancient Athenian philosopher Socrates believed other people can damage your body and your reputation, but the only person who can damage your soul is you. It is time for me to bring Commsrisk to an end, despite the site accumulating 19 million pageviews across 3,442 articles published over the course of almost 18 years, because continuing would hurt my soul. This enterprise began with specific goals, and I must reluctantly conclude they will never be realized through this medium. The evidence has been piling up more rapidly in recent years, in parallel with the accelerating growth of this website’s readership. That is why I am sure that accumulating an even larger audience will still not influence the changes that are sorely and urgently needed to protect the public from harm, that are needed to drive increased investment in securing the integrity of comms services, and that are needed to defend the jobs of experienced risk professionals who have been made redundant in larger numbers each year. The last of these problems is the one that will not be addressed soon enough, and it underpins the others. I persisted in recent years because of the hope that a large enough audience, with a loud enough voice, might still speak of the need to reverse course. I thought we might coordinate action to agitate for better pay and training for all risk professionals. No business ever effectively managed its risks by throwing money at some risks whilst ignoring others. Ultimately, I kept going because of the difficulty of reversing any premature decision to end Commsrisk. But now is the time to say goodbye, which I do with a heavy heart. Irrespective of the failure to arrive at the intended destination, it has been an honor to engage with so many along the way.
The internet can be a frantic competition for attention, so I am humbled by the size of the audience for the serious but niche topics covered by me and the other contributors. Time is always short when writing for an online readership, so let me thank all the supporters of Commsrisk without further delay. It gave great pleasure to collaborate with Lee Scargall and Ed Finegold on the making of Commsrisk TV. James Greenley joined the team to produce those shows, but soon became invaluable as the chief technician across every Commsrisk channel. I owe a debt to the many writers who have shared their expert insights, but especially to Joseph Nderitu, who never lost faith in the prospect of making the world a better place, despite being brutally mistreated by a corrupt government that took foreign telco professionals as hostages for ransom. That Joseph still writes of the chances of improvement is a testament to the beauty of his soul.
The Risk & Assurance Group (RAG) will also end as a consequence of Commsrisk no longer generating the income needed to cover RAG’s remaining expenses. It is a regret that we succeeded in breaking the mould by taking RAG to regions ignored by a Western hegemony, but we could not regain our momentum after the pandemic struck. We went to India. We went to Africa three times. Thanks are deserved by many volunteers who made it possible to visit these places, along with the events we held in Australia, Europe, the Middle East and North America, and to all who contributed to our online conferences and the materials we made available online. But if I have to single out one person, Michael Lazarou’s commitment to developing a free online training program for RAFM professionals deserves special praise. Ending that initiative in the wake of the pandemic cutbacks signaled the beginning of the end for my motivation. Delivering accurate and high-quality information to professionals worldwide was the most essential raison d’etre for all of these interlocking activities. Outside of the work done in specific domains within cybersecurity and network technology, I fear there has been a return to the intellectual stagnation that RAG sought to counter. Coupling this with redundancies in the private sector means the only prospect of a turnaround rests with regulatory mandates and public sector expenditure on consumer protection. That is why the potential to exercise further influence is limited. A lot of snouts are already forcing their way into the government trough, and neither Commsrisk nor RAG is suited to competing with them.
Commsrisk would have been nothing without the people who came here for news and advice. I thank you all, and hope we will find new reasons to connect as I shift my career towards more freelance work whilst continuing to encourage better ways to stop consumer scams. Commsrisk is over; I have some more years in me yet. Regulators are especially welcome to get in touch. They need more free and impartial advice on consumer protection in order to counterbalance the misinformation they receive from biased sources. I also hope to see some of you in person more often, irrespective of whether we live in the same country or not. My intention is to spend less time sitting at a keyboard and more time walking from place to place, ideally in the sunshine. I need the exercise! A good walk through nature is beneficial for the body and the soul, and can only be bettered through the addition of a stimulating conversation. This enterprise has caused me to meet many stimulating people over the years. For those of you who prefer quick goodbyes, this is the end. For those who want to linger, this website will remain online for a little while, and I would be glad to hear how you next intend to change the world. Inspiration is infectious; feel free to share yours. It remains an unequivocal delight to walk, talk and work with people who are headed the same way.
