I recently had a chat with Hannah Betts about national data sovereignty and AI sovereignty. I’m sceptical about much of the discussion about this topic. Mostly because there is very little evidence that it is a real (rather than theoretical) problem, and because most of the responses confuse the physical location of the data with the jurisdiction that applies to that data. But recent events with Anthropic and Fable have forced me to rethink this.
Category: Opinion
The New NIST Cyber Security Framework Is Coming
We think that the new version of NIST’s Cyber Security Framework is a significant improvement. There’s one big change, but it is the lots of little changes that add up to a massive overall improvement. New Zealand organisations will still need to do some work to plug some of its idiosyncratic gaps, however.
Axenic Celebrates Ramadan
As a non-Muslim I knew nothing about Ramadan – I’d heard that it involved fasting but was ignorant of any details or of its significance. Realising that it was an important part of the lives of some of my colleagues, I decided to ask them about it. What surprised me – knowing little about Ramadan – was the joy that they clearly felt.
Diversity in the workplace – International Women’s Day 2022
Take a moment to imagine a world with gender equality. No bias, no stereotypes, no discrimination. This year’s International Women’s Day focuses on encouraging people to overcome gender biases towards women. We are trying to eliminate gender bias by showing our support and encouraging diversity. We’re very fortunate that our team here at Axenic is made up of a number of passionate and experienced women who are all outstanding professionals in their field. In support and recognition of International Women’s Day this year, we would like to take the opportunity to introduce you to them.
The Russian invasion of the Ukraine raises a few cybersecurity questions
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?
Warning – Geeky Insurance Debate
Recently I’d been helping a customer negotiate their cyber security insurance – which turned out to be trickier than I expected. This got me thinking about the role that insurance played in cyber security. Then – coincidentally – I was reading a book on security (Paul Martin’s great “The Rules of Security”) and came across this sentence: “Insurance is sometimes described as a means of transferring risk, but it is really more of a mechanism for softening the financial impact of a loss.” (p 73). It got me wondering – at Axenic have we been thinking about insurance all wrong?