The Ultimate Guide to Cybersecurity
A curated Kiwi edition of TechDay news, analysis, interviews, reviews, job moves, and related resources for Cybersecurity.
What to know about Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is a critical and evolving field dedicated to protecting individuals, businesses, and governments from online threats. Amid transformative advancements such as AI, cloud adoption, quantum computing, and fluctuating geopolitical risks, organisations are navigating an increasingly complex cyber threat landscape.
Recent developments across the cybersecurity sphere highlight crucial topics including ransomware surges, deepfake scams, API security lapses, identity management complexities, and the growing importance of Zero Trust frameworks. These trends underscore the need for proactive strategies, comprehensive threat detection, agile responses, and a strengthening of human and technological defenses.
With expanding attack surfaces driven by remote work, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and digital transformation, there is a paramount focus on integrating AI-powered solutions, enhancing data protection, and addressing skills shortages. Initiatives promoting diversity, education, and collaborative partnerships continue to be essential in fortifying cyber resilience.
Exploring these themes through the latest stories and expert insights encourages readers to deepen their understanding of contemporary cybersecurity challenges and solutions, emphasizing actionable knowledge to help safeguard digital futures in an interconnected world.
Kiwi Cybersecurity News
Regional stories with direct local relevance
Police say they're assessing how to use emerging technology after report of 'risky' AI use
Police used unapproved AI workarounds to speed up criminal probes, but officials say tighter controls are needed to protect privacy and evidence.
Police AI: Investigator uploads 350,000 lines of audio in risky workaround
Pressure on investigators drove them to use unsecured AI tools, risking confidential police evidence and exposing major gaps in oversight.
Sovereignty by design: Building New Zealand's digital resilience
A mix of local and global systems could shield New Zealand services from cyberattacks and natural hazards while preserving control over critical data.
New Zealand tech group urges cross-party digital strategy
One in 10 households still lacks internet access, underscoring TUANZ's warning that policy resets are slowing New Zealand's digital growth.
Fridge hack a 'wake-up call' for NZ supermarkets - cyber expert
Outdated software left internet-linked devices exposed, with supermarkets warned the same flaw could disrupt everyday shopping in New Zealand.
New Zealand launches Cyber Smart Week with scam warning
Rising AI-driven scams are prompting agencies to push basic defences, as the annual awareness drive urges New Zealanders to act before breaches bite.
Analyst Insights
Research and market analysis connected to Cybersecurity
BeyondTrust: Agentic AI is an 'old new' identity problem
What Is Shadow AI and What Does It Mean for Your Organisation?
Hack The Box launches AI range for enterprise security teams
Fortinet: The AI challenge is visibility and control, not permission
Fastly named Leader in IDC MarketScape WAAP assessment
Featured News
AI attacks demand operational change in the post Mythos era
Only 5% of Australian companies are ready for AI-driven attacks, leaving most exposed as threat actors move at machine speed.
UST: Businesses must rethink how AI returns are measured
Australian firms risk spending increasing resources on AI pilots that ultimately fail to prove gains in revenue, efficiency or customer service.
Data sovereignty is a strategic imperative in the AI era
AI is pushing boards to weigh local control against cloud convenience, with 80% of respondents saying sovereignty matters more in vendor selection.
Organisations need a strategic approach to skills in the AI world
Companies are missing out on returns from AI and other new tools because staff training and change management are lagging behind.
Interview: Cloudera says AI agents reshape zero trust
Enterprises must update identity controls as software agents generate more requests and need tightly time-limited access to sensitive systems.
VAST Data targets AI data sovereignty with DataEnclave
Enterprises and governments could run AI on sensitive data without exposing it, as the technology targets sovereignty rules across APAC.
AI demands network agility and better operational governance
Governance gaps are leaving most organisations exposed as AI traffic surges and networks struggle to keep pace with machine-speed demands.
Zscaler takes zero trust beyond the corporate network
Critical infrastructure operators are using cellular links to secure distributed assets as outages and spoofing raise the stakes for resilience.
Workiva: The secret compliance and reporting arms race
Driven by improved tooling, finance teams are meeting higher standards as regulators and analysts scrutinise disclosures faster.
Filigran: Does your CISO know enough?
CISOs are under pressure to answer boardroom questions on exposure in minutes, as Filigran pushes CTEM and open-source validation tools.
Genetec: Open platforms key as physical security evolves
Businesses are prioritising hybrid, open security systems to protect existing hardware investments while adopting cloud and AI tools more gradually.
AI transforming physical security into enterprise data solution
AI and cloud tools are turning cameras into live operational data sources, helping firms cut costs, spot errors and manage fleets centrally.
QBE: Mooted critical infrastructure penalties hint at cyber regulatory future
Proposed fines of up to $5 million pushes more New Zealand firms to consider cyber cover as regulatory certainty emerges.
Governance controls are crucial for AI adoption and modernisation
Trusted partners and tighter guardrails are becoming essential as AI agents expand the attack surface and put data sovereignty on the line.
Exclusive: Cloudera builds Hadoop-free future platform
Existing customers get six years of support as Cloudera shifts new AI and analytics workloads to a Hadoop-free platform due in November.
Datadog targets enterprise risk with AI and automation
Australian enterprises are under pressure to tame AI-driven complexity, compliance risk and rising technology costs as Datadog broadens its platform.
Mimecast CEO: Agentic AI threat novel but not entirely new
Hidden AI risks are already widespread in workplaces, with Mimecast saying users are driving shadow tools and most exposure still starts with people.
The internet times are a'changing Fastly
Bot traffic is forcing Fastly to adapt its edge cloud tools as publishers and AI firms battle over caching, access and data protection.
Trusted identity cuts across physical and logical systems
Unified identity systems can cut admin overhead and shrink attack surfaces as remote work and cyber threats blur physical and digital access.
Rimini Street offers AI magic without the forced ERP migration
CIOs can keep existing ERP systems and still adopt agentic AI, as Rimini Street pitches a cheaper path away from vendor-led migrations.
Jamf launches AI Governance to enhance visibility, security
IT teams can now track AI models on Apple fleets to curb data leaks and token spend as businesses wrestle with shadow AI.
AI models expose new attack surfaces through misconfiguration
Misconfigured models are giving attackers a fresh route into cloud systems, raising the risk of data theft and service compromise.
Thermomix moves HQ to Melbourne to capture Aussie kitchens
The shift will bring the appliance maker closer to eastern customers, as Australia and New Zealand now account for most of its sales.
Schrodinger's ERP both dead and alive, says Rimini Street
Businesses can avoid costly ERP rip-and-replace projects by layering AI and automation onto existing systems, Rimini Street says.
AI adoption races ahead of governance in businesses
Only one in six staff are getting enough AI training, leaving firms exposed to poor decisions, shadow tools and weak returns.
Network segmentation - you can't attack what you can't see
Fast-moving exploits are shrinking patch windows to hours, making network segmentation vital for protecting cameras, medical devices and other connected assets.
SAS Innovate: New era of scams requires novel solutions
Australians are losing billions as AI-driven fraud pushes banks, telcos and platforms to share scam data faster and stop payments earlier.
Reviews
Expert Columns
Singapore's 2035 Quantum-Safe Target Starts With Identity
AI moves fast: are you training your people to use it wisely?
Small but mighty - micro data centres are the foundation of security and disaster recovery
Private 5G in Australia and New Zealand: a guide for industrial organisations
Seven Cyber Controls Businesses Can No Longer Afford to Overlook
Charting a secure course to a post-quantum world
SOCtoberfest Kickoff: The 7 Deadly Sins of Cybersecurity Meet CISA's Core Steps
Why AI-Written Phishing Is Outpacing the Native Filters Built to Stop It
Building B2B Websites for AEO, GEO, and SEO
Should cybersecurity be nationalised?
Interviews
Interviews and video coverage from the networkRecent Cybersecurity News
Meta's Muse AI agent seen in half of customer traffic
Security teams face a new attribution problem as Meta's Muse AI agent can slip into customer traffic while posing as an ordinary browser.
Tanium teams with NVIDIA to manage local AI endpoints
IT teams gain patching and compliance controls for NVIDIA's local AI systems as Tanium extends its endpoint platform beyond standard PCs.
Qualys warns patching surge is missing active exploits
Despite more patching, organisations are leaving the most dangerous flaws open longer, as attackers exploit vulnerabilities before defenders can act.
TrendAI adds NVIDIA Nemotron to sovereign security cloud
The move lets regulated organisations run AI-driven threat detection inside customer-controlled environments, keeping sensitive security data local.
Forrester warns of shadow AI surge across Asia Pacific
Governance gaps could leave large firms exposed as employee-built AI agents outnumber sanctioned tools in Asia Pacific by 10 to one.
Finance leaders favour visibility & planning over cuts
More finance teams are using data and planning tools to protect growth spending as volatility makes broad cuts less attractive.
Palo Alto warns on 22 million exposed PHP instances
Security teams face a wider attack surface, as Palo Alto Networks says the PHP flaws could leave 22 million internet-facing instances exposed worldwide.
Australia cyber rules tighten as reporting deadlines bite
Australian firms face faster reporting clocks and penalties of up to AUD $50 million, as regulators step up scrutiny after cyber attacks.
ThreatDown ties criminal AI storefronts to OpenRouter
The discovery suggests takedowns may be fleeting, as criminals can quickly rebuild AI storefronts using the same rented routing layer and models.
Print remains biggest Zero Trust blind spot, survey finds
Print systems are still causing weekly outages for many firms, with just 16% of enterprise IT leaders saying they are covered by Zero Trust measures.
SentinelOne names LevelBlue global Wayfinder partner
More organisations will gain round-the-clock threat detection and incident response as LevelBlue takes global delivery of SentinelOne's Wayfinder service.
Recorded Future warns of rising Magecart attacks & exploits
Online checkout systems face greater risk as attackers increasingly hide skimming code inside trusted payment tools and services.
Human hackers drive attacks as AI use stays limited
Most tracked cyberattacks are still run by people, even as attackers exploit high-severity flaws in an average of three days.
Aston Martin Aramco takes AMR Network to Singapore
The Singapore event broadens the Formula One team's partner programme beyond sponsorship, linking tech and finance firms around rapid market change.
Azul issues security fixes for record OpenJDK flaws
Enterprises running Java face a heavier patching burden, as 53 flaws in the latest OpenJDK update must be fixed far faster than usual.
HPE sends Spaceborne Computer-4 to the Moon for AI tests
Moon-based processing will let HPE test AI and high-performance computing on the lunar surface, reducing reliance on Earth links for future missions.
Braskem rolls out Rockwell SecureOT across 39 sites
The roll-out gives the chemical producer a real-time view of more than 3,000 OT assets, helping it prioritise vulnerabilities across its global sites.
Cohesity names Datacom APJ MSP Partner of the Year
The recognition boosts Datacom's standing across Australia and New Zealand as customers demand stronger cyber resilience, data protection and recovery support.
BeyondTrust adds just-in-time access to ServiceNow
The tie-up lets security teams remove standing privileges from ServiceNow workflows while keeping fast access for staff who need it.
Aon warns New Zealand firms on Asia-Pacific cyber rules
Cross-border data breaches could force New Zealand companies to notify multiple regulators, as Asia Pacific rules tighten and deadlines vary widely.
Job Moves
Ingram Micro names Becs Paterson to New Zealand role
Securecom appoints Head of Cyber Security & promotes Kolver
Equinox IT appoints Victoria MacLennan as director
Inde appoints Nish Sudhakaran as AI & data director
Microsoft appoints Nick Walton as NZ Managing Director
One New Zealand names CFO, CTO in executive succession
HP New Zealand appoints Daniel Roberts as Head of Enterprise
Spectrum Consulting names Darryl van Rensburg for AI drive
Gallagher Security names Josh Arnold Chief Product Lead