There are two types of companies in the world: those that know they've been hacked, and those that don't.

My father, a Russian translator, wanted to distinguish me by calling me Misha, the Russian diminutive of his name, Michael. My name and work as a writer specialising in the Balkans has created a myth that I have Slavic connections, but actually I am British.

Silicon Valley does not breed great technology. Instead, the smartest people from around the world tend to move to Silicon Valley.

That's something I learned from both my stepdad and my grandfather - that there is a thing called chivalry, and it doesn't have to die with the birth of the Internet. The way I see it, if you're asking a girl out on a date, it's only right to do it in a way that she can hear your voice.

Sharing is the essence of social media.

It's high time for a fresh European alternative to enter the market, taking the existing Internet behemoths head on. What the world needs now is a cloud storage service that is not subject to uncontrolled access by intelligence agencies.