My week of Monday 22 to Sunday 28 October 2018 was dominated by the building in the photo, the International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney), because I was covering SWIFT’s Sibos global financial services conference. It was all a bit strange.
Continue reading “Weekly Wrap 439: Banking, cybers, and whisky (lots of)”Weekly Wrap 438: Digging into the legislation, mostly
After two weeks of travel, my week of Monday 15 to Sunday 21 October 2018 was less hectic. My main focus for writing was legislation making its way through the Australian parliament.
Oh, and finally getting to the podcast production. That’s a good thing, right?
Podcasts
- “The 9pm Arch Window into the Soul”, being The 9pm Edict episode 79. It’s also on Spreaker and SoundCloud. This one’s a bit different, with Nicholas Fryer asking the questions. Let me know what you think.
Articles
- My Health Record privacy amendments ‘woefully inadequate’: Labor, ZDNet Australia, 15 October 2018.
- Australia’s anti-encryption legislation fails to address human rights concerns: Committee, ZDNet Australia, 18 October 2018.
- Senate inquiry recommends locking down My Health Record by default, ZDNet Australia, 18 October 2018.
- ADHA’s non-process for releasing My Health Record data revealed, ZDNet Australia, 19 October 2018.
Media Appearances, Corporate Largesse
None.
The Week Ahead
I’m spending the week in Sydney covering SWIFT’s Sibos global financial services conference on Monday to Thursday, then doing some writing and dealing with a medical appointment on Friday.
On the weekend I’ll post another podcast, based on the long interview I recorded with the remarkable Mike Godwin in Washington DC. And then I’ll collapse.
Further Ahead
The following week I’m covering the McAfee MPOWER Cyber Security Summit in Sydney on Tuesday, as well as a little more podcast production.
There’s nothing specific pencilled in right through to the end of the year, so I should probably do something about that. Suggestions are more than welcome.
[Photo: Waratah at Bunjaree Cottages. Despite the heavy rain, this Waratah at Bunjaree Cottages is flowering again this year. I am pleased. Photographed on 21 October 2018.]
Weekly Wrap 437: Cybering for two weeks in two countries
My fortnight of Monday 1 to Sunday 14 October 2018 was spent in The America and then in the Melbourne. I’m exhausted. But it was all quite productive.
Articles
- No Russian interference yet in US midterm elections: FireEye, ZDNet Australia, 4 October 2018. Interesting analysis. The first of three stories from the FireEye Cyber Defense Summit.
- America the ‘indispensable nation’ for cybersecurity: Madeleine Albright, ZDNet Australia, 4 October 2018.
- North Korea is the most destructive cyber threat right now: FireEye, ZDNet Australia, 5 October 2018. The key word here is “destructive”. When discovered, the DPRK hackers tent to trash everything in sight.
- My Health Record justifications ‘kind of lame’: Godwin, ZDNet Australia, 10 October 2018.
- UK’s NCSC to monitor internet routing to stop DDoS and hijacks, ZDNet Australia, 12 October 2018. An update on the NCSC’s impressive Active Cyber Defence work.
Podcasts
None published. But as well as the long conversation with Nicholas Fryer that we recorded in Adelaide two weeks ago, in DC I recorded a long interview with the remarkable Mike Godwin, creator of Godwin’s Law amongst many other things. Both of those podcasts will be posted some time in the coming week.
Media Appearances
None, which is unusual.
Corporate Largesse
- My flights to the US and the related accommodation were covered by FireEye.
- At the Australian Cyber Conference on 10–11 October there was plenty of food and drink, courtesy of the Australian Information Security Association (AISA) and their sponsors. AusCERT: A branded SyncStop “USB Condom” to protect my devices while charging from random USB ports; Tenable: a copy of Cyber Exposure for Dummies; ThreatQuotient: A stress rhinoceros, leading Benno Rice to coin the euphemism “Squeezing the rhino”; Tripwire: Three t-shirts bearing the slogan “I didn’t start the fire”; Yubico: A YubiKey NEO authentication device.
The Week Ahead
On Monday, I’m back in Sydney, where I’ll be dealing with a couple of medical things, sorting through my notes and pitching some stories, and ending the day with some social life, before taking the train back to Wentworth Falls.
Tuesday through Thursday will be about writing for ZDNet and editing podcasts. I’ll plan that out as I go.
Friday is another Sydney day, with the usual mix of medical and work appointments, plus whatever remains to be done. I’m looking forward to having a lazy weekend.
Further Ahead
The following week I’m spending a bunch of time in Sydney covering the Sibos global financial services conference on 22–25 October. That’ll keep me pretty busy, so Friday through Sunday will be more laid-back.
Beyond that:
- McAfee MPOWER Cyber Security Summit, Sydney, 30 October.
- International Association of Privacy Professionals ANZ (iappANZ) Annual Summit, Privacy: Handling the Seismic Shift, Melbourne, 1 November. (Tentative)
[Photo: The White House. You know what this is. Photographed on the foggy Sunday morning of 7 October 2018.]
Weekly Wrap 435: Flying in aircraft small and large
The highlight of my week of Monday 24 to Sunday 30 September 2018 was obviously being flown from Sydney to (nearly) Adelaide by Mark Newton in his Van’s RV-6 VH-SOL. That’s it in the photo. Obviously.
A podcast will result from that trip, “The 9pm Sierra Oscar Lima (Or Llama)”, in about four weeks from now, once I’ve finished travelling. Meanwhile, you can read the tweets and look at the blurry photos.
A second highlight was running a successful Pozible crowdfunding campaign, The 9pm Flying Visits, to record some podcast segments in Adelaide, Washington DC, and Melbourne. I’m visiting those cities for work, but thanks to 50 generous supporters contributed $2138 to cover extra accommodation and the like. See below for how that will all work.
Articles
- Telstra and Optus call for clarity in anti-encryption laws, ZDNet Australia, 24 September 2018.
Podcasts
None published, but I’ve recorded a long conversation with Nicholas Fryer, who does The Arch Window segments in The 9pm Edict. That will appear some time in the coming week.
Media Appearances
- On Monday, one of my “excellent” tweets was used in the Junkee story Everyone Wants To Run The ABC Now That Michelle Guthrie Has Been Fired.
- On Tuesday. I spoke about the idea of selling your own data, and the government’s work on the Consumer Data Right, on ABC Adelaide. I did not record it.
Corporate Largesse
- On Thursday, I met with the CEO of Responsight and his PR people. They bought me a coffee.
The Week Ahead
As I post this on Sunday afternoon, I’m at Adelaide Airport for flights via Melbourne and Abu Dhabi to Washington DC. I’ll arrive there on Monday evening local time.
I’m spending the week in DC covering the FireEye Cyber Defense Summit from Tuesday to Thursday, then enjoying my first visit to the city and recording more podcasts bits. I’m very pleased that one of those bits will be an interview with the remarkable Mike Godwin, creator of Godwin’s Law amongst many other things.
On Sunday night I fly out via Abu Dhabi to Melbourne.
Further Ahead
The following week I’m in Melbourne, arriving on Tuesday evening local time to cover the Australian Cyber Conference, formerly the Australian Information Security Association (AISA) National Conference, on 9–11 October. I’m staying in Melbourne to write, and record yet more podcast bits, before flying up to Sydney on Sunday night.
Beyond that:
- The Sibos global financial services conference, Sydney, 22–25 October.
- International Association of Privacy Professionals ANZ (iappANZ) Annual Summit, Privacy: Handling the Seismic Shift, Melbourne, 1 November. (TBC)
[Photo: Refuelling at Swan Hill. Mark Newton’s Van’s RV-6 VH-SOL about to be refuelled at Swan Hill Aerodrome, as the signage described it, on 28 September 2018.]
Weekly Wrap 427: Cybers, and Melbourne in winter
It was a busy fortnight from Monday 23 July to Sunday 5 August 2018, and this pleases me. So much written, across two cities. And I had a lovely time in Melbourne.
Articles
- The My Health Record story no politician should miss, ZDNet Australia, 23 July 2018. The controversy around Australia’s digital health records system is, if anything, growing.
- Poor cybersecurity could destabilise increasingly complex energy grids, ZDNet Australia, 26 July 2018.
- Canberra still in denial over My Health Record concerns, ZDNet Australia, 30 July 2018.
- Avoid distractions to focus on the long cyber game: ASD chief, ZDNet Australia, 31 July 2018.
- AI can deliver ‘faster better cheaper’ cybersecurity, ZDNet Australia, 1 August 2018.
- Startups going global should go GDPR: Lawyer, ZDNet Australia, 2 August 2018.
- My Health Record: Canberra is still missing the point, ZDNet Australia, 3 August 2018.
Media Appearances
- On Monday 23 July, I spoke about My Health Record on ABC Adelaide, and on ABC Darwin. I won’t be posting recordings, because I’ve pretty much said it all in the articles.
- On Tuesday 24 June, I spoke about My Health Record on Leigh Stark’s podcast The Wrap.
- On Thursday 26 July, I spoke about Google’s €4.3 billion fine for anti-competitive behaviour on ABC Radio’s The World Today.
- On Wednesday 1 August, I was one of the people interviewed for a story on ABC Radio’s The World Today, ‘Australia needs to be concerned’: Facebook and cyber security. There’s also a text version at ABC News, Cyber security experts warn Australia not immune from election meddling via Facebook.
Podcasts
None. I really must catch up on the podcast production.
Corporate Largesse
- On Tuesday 24 July, the lunchtime briefing held at the excellent Bentley Restaurant and Bar in Sydney was paid for by Frost & Sullivan, CQR Consulting, Indra Australia, and Zscaler.
- There was plenty of good food and drink at the SINET 61 cybersecurity innovation conference, held at The Langham, Melbourne on 31 July and 1 August. Note that I paid for my own flights and accommodation.
The Week Ahead
I’ll be back in New South Wales this week, starting off with the errands and medical appointments in Sydney on Monday before taking the train back to Wentworth Falls. I may well do some writing as well. The writing continues Tuesday through Thursday.
On Friday I’m back in Sydney for another medical appointment, a lunchtime meeting in Pyrmont, and a visit to the National Archives of Australia’s premises at Chester Hill. I hope that last errand will produce a fascinating document for you.
Further Ahead
I’ve pencilled in:
- CLOUDSEC Australia 2018, Sydney, 28 August.
- D61+ LIVE, Brisbane, 18–19 September. (TBC)
- Australian Cyber Conference, formerly the Australian Information Security Association (AISA) National Conference, Melbourne, 9–11 October.
- International Association of Privacy Professionals ANZ (iappANZ) Annual Summit, Privacy: Handling the Seismic Shift, Melbourne, 1 November. (TBC)
[Photo: Kill me now bro. Graffiti on a concrete anti-terrorist block at Melbourne’s Southern Cross station, photographed on 5 August 2018.]
Weekly Wrap 420: Cold, Canberra, and Space
Without going into too many details, here is my week of Monday 11 to Sunday 17 June 2018. Much of it was spent in Canberra, where it was cold and windy.
Articles
- Australia’s semantic sleight of hand on encrypted messaging revealed, ZDNet Australia, 13 June 2018. This is a sequel to last week’s yarn, Australian government committed to ‘no backdoors’: Taylor, following the release of a few more government documents under FOI.
I’ve also part-written an analysis of this week’s conference “Building Australia’s Strategy for Space” put on by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). That should be up at ZDNet late on Tuesday afternoon.
Podcasts
None, but there will be two podcasts quite soon. Promise.
Media Appearances
- Anthony Caruana reviewed my performance in AusCERT 2018 — The (not so) great debate. As far as I can tell, the video of the debate has not been posted. That’s probably for the best.
- On Wednesday, I spoke about net neutrality on ABC Hobart. As you may have noticed, I’ve almost completely dropped my habit of posting the audio recordings.
Corporate Largesse
- There was much good food and drink at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) conference “Building Australia’s Strategy for Space”. The dinner at the National Gallery of Australia was sponsored by Northrop Grumman. We were all given Northrop Grumman fidget spinners too. They must have tons of those stupid things to get rid of.
The Week Ahead
The week will be spent in Sydney, at least until the weekend. It’ll be all about writing for ZDNet and Crikey, but I’m also hoping to sneak in one of the two podcasts I owe you. Plus I hope to finally kick this goddam cold. I won’t set specific dates for any of these things, though, because that causes a bit too much stress.
Further Ahead
Things I’ve pencilled in, none of which have been confirmed yet:
- SINET 61, Melbourne, 31 July – 1 August. (TBC)
- D61+ LIVE, Brisbane, 18–19 September. (TBC)
- Australian Cyber Conference, formerly the Australian Information Security Association (AISA) National Conference, Melbourne, 9–11 October.
- International Association of Privacy Professionals ANZ (iappANZ) Annual Summit, Privacy: Handling the Seismic Shift, Melbourne, 1 November. (TBC)
[Photo: Canberra Bungalow. Canberra was established in 1913, and the now-Old Parliament House was opened in 1927, so the city is quite new. The inner suburbs have lots of these inter-War bungalows. This one is in Braddon. Photographed on 18 June 2018.]