As bushfire smoke engulfed the Sydney region, giving the city the worst air quality in the world, my week of Monday 18 to Sunday 24 November plodded along in a satisfactory manner.
Continue reading “Weekly Wrap 495: Bushfire smoke, cybers, and a random magpie”Weekly Wrap 467: Birds, eggs, and cybers
Monday 6 to Sunday 12 May 2019 was quite a productive week, despite cancelling Friday to avoid coming down with a cold. It’s also been fun watching the chaos of Australia’s federal election campaign. Enough said.
Continue reading “Weekly Wrap 467: Birds, eggs, and cybers”Weekly Wrap 457: Neuropharmacology and two kinds of cybers
My week of Monday 25 February to Sunday 3 March 2019 was moderately produtive, despite the “joys” of starting to adjust me medications to improve my sleep patterns. There were cybers, too.
Weekly Wrap 447: It’s still way too busy as Christmas looms
My week of Monday 19 to Sunday 23 December 2018 was surprisingly busy. Instead of winding down as it approached Christmas, it wound back up with new things happening.
Continue reading “Weekly Wrap 447: It’s still way too busy as Christmas looms”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 418: Cybers and a river in Queensland
My week of Monday 28 May to Sunday 3 June 2018 began in the Blue Mountains, passed through the Gold Coast, and ended up in Brisbane. But I told you that last week.
Articles
- Australian real estate agents a trending target for cybercrime, ZDNet Australia, 1 June 2018.
- State-sponsored cyber attacks deserve tougher responses: ASPI report, ZDNet Australia, 1 June 2018.
Podcasts
None. But there will be two episodes quite soon. Trust me on this.
Media Appearances
- On Monday morning, I spoke about the EU’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on ABC Darwin.
- On Monday evening, I spoke about the risks of leaving data un-wiped on things like printers and photocopiers on ABC Melbourne.
- On Tuesday morning, I spoke about the EU’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on ABC Alice Springs.
- On Thursday, the inimitable wine writer Philip White cited one of my tweets, kinda, in his InDaily column, The art of ranking alcohol.
Corporate Largesse
- Wednesday through Friday, there was plenty of food and drink to be had at the AusCERT Cyber Security Conference. I also scored an AusCERT backpack and polo shirt, and from Enex Carbon a couple of branded pens. I didn’t really run amok in the vendors’ stalls this year.
The Week Ahead
I’m staying on in Brisbane for a couple more days. On Monday, after a morning of writing, I’m having lunch with an infosec person, then recording an episode of The 9pm Probe with author and columnist John Birmingham. Tuesday includes more writing, as well as my afternoon flight back to Sydney.
Wednesday is a Sydney day, with a couple of medical appointments interrupting my scheduled writing. I’ll also be recording a review of a chicken and avocado pie — don’t ask — and eventually getting the train back up to Wentworth Falls.
The rest of the week is full of writing for Crikey and ZDNet, arranged as the mood takes me. Then there’s the Queen’s Birthday long weekend, but so far I haven’t planned anything for that.
Further Ahead
Things I’ve pencilled in:
- Building Australia’s Strategy for Space, Canberra, 13–15 June. (TBC)
- 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.
[Photo: Nested bridges on the Brisbane River. SA view from a CityCat ferry as it makes its way down the Brisbane River towards the CBD, photographed on 3 June 2018.]