Byte by Byte: What Attorneys Should Know About Software and Programming

CPUs, GPUs, and RAMs are used daily, but do we know what this alphabet soup means? Computing hardware has been an essential component of the process of calculation and data storage since it became useful for numerical values to be processed and shared. Software represents the computer programs that tell computers what to do. Understanding how computers work, from our laptops to the Internet of Things (IoT) in our cars or even fridges, allows us to grasp the underlying mechanisms that power devices and how they can be exploited or attacked by nefarious actors. For attorneys, this knowledge can translate to more effective eDiscovery and work to uphold ethical responsibilities of competence, such as Model Rules of Professional Conduct 1.1.