Category: Information Security

Axenic’s 2025 year in review: The cyber risks that caught everyone’s attention

By Tim Rosenbrook, on

It has been a noisy year on the New Zealand cybersecurity front. Between regulatory shifts, the “always-on” threat of ransomware, and the scramble to secure remote workforces, finding clear, actionable advice hasn’t always been easy.

At Axenic, we’ve spent the last 12 months sifting through the cybersecurity headlines to send you only what matters. We didn’t just want to add to your inbox; we wanted to arm you with “plain English” clarity.

Now that the dust is settling on 2025, we’ve gone back through our data and in this blog we take a look at what actually grabbed your attention.

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The Russian invasion of the Ukraine raises a few cybersecurity questions

By Doug Newdick, on

Cybersecurity Impacts of the Recent Invasion

Primarily the story about the Russian invasion of the Ukraine is one of great human tragedy. Nothing I write here is supposed to take away from the fact that the main story is about the suffering of the Ukrainian people.

Even at the other end of the world here in Aotearoa New Zealand, however, there will be impacts. Though they may just be echoes of the fury in Europe. It’s no secret that cyber attacks are part of Russian military strategy, nor that New Zealand organisations have been the victims of Russian cybercriminals. So what effects – if any – will the war in the Ukraine have on cyber security here?

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The Grass Looks Greener from Here: Cyber Security Should Be Like Health and Safety

By Doug Newdick, on

All the experts agree – cyber security should be an organisation-wide concern.  And yet, in my experience too many organisations, and too many people in those organisations think that cyber security is solely the concern of (a) the security team, or (b) the IT/digital team. In case you need convincing my favourite response is that if there is a cyber-attack (or incident) then it is not the IT team’s job that is at risk, but part of the organisation (if the HR system is compromised it is the HR team who won’t be able to work, not the IT or security teams). Who knows what the impact is of an attack? It’s not IT, that’s for sure. And who is best placed to balance off the needs of the organisation with the cyber risks? It’s not security: if you left it up to me, I’d turn everything off! That’s the only way to be sure (and I get no benefit from it being on, so…)

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