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
WitFoo offers UC student first Christchurch role
Christchurch's tech ecosystem gets a boost as WitFoo turns a sponsored UC project into a job offer and expands its local footprint.
AI boosts value of experienced developers, says Lancom CTO
AI has made prototypes cheap, but production failures remain costly, putting a premium on experienced developers who can spot hidden risks.
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.
Analyst Insights
Research and market analysis connected to Cybersecurity
Island named only Gartner Customers' Choice for browsers
Saviynt recognised in Gartner PAM report for third year
BeyondTrust named leader in Gartner PAM report again
Check Point launches firewall subscription for AI security
SoftwareOne completes APAC channel integration with Crayon
Featured News
Netskope launches Catalyst program: Facilitate, secure and get out of the way
Netskope's revamped Catalyst MSP/SP Program and Partner Orchestrator aim to have MSP customers flexibly provisioned within 15 minutes.
Transform your business with Telstra Adaptive Networks
Businesses facing outages and surging demand can now reroute traffic, scale bandwidth and cut IT admin as Telstra's network adapts in real time.
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.
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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
The crown jewels of cybersecurity: What can your business not afford to lose
Shadow AI Is Creating an Unmanaged Identity Crisis Across APAC
It's time to embrace our robot overlords
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
Interviews
Interviews and video coverage from the network
Netskope launches Catalyst program: Facilitate, secure and get out of the way
Transform your business with Telstra Adaptive Networks
AI attacks demand operational change in the post Mythos era
UST: Businesses must rethink how AI returns are measured
Data sovereignty is a strategic imperative in the AI era
Recent Cybersecurity News
Qualys launches TruRisk Eliminate 2.0 with AI remediation
Security teams are under pressure to fix exposures faster as AI shortens attack windows, and Qualys says its update cuts outage risk.
Echo launches Frontier to patch AI-found zero-days
Organisations now face a shorter window to fix unknown flaws before public disclosure, as AI tools speed up zero-day discovery and exploitation.
CrowdStrike finds AI agents running autonomous cyberattacks
CrowdStrike found four threat actors using AI agents to automate cyberattacks, compromising healthcare, government and private-sector organisations.
Dell expands cyber resilience tools for AI & identity
The new tools aim to help organisations recover faster from AI and identity breaches, as cyber incidents increasingly threaten business continuity.
HPE integrates EdgeConnect into Mist & Aruba Central
The integration should cut the complexity of managing separate networking and security tools for businesses as AI-driven demand strains IT teams.
Akamai launches AI inference & agent sandbox tools
The new services are designed to help enterprises move AI systems into production while keeping latency, data access and agent security under control.
Oracle & OpenAI expand partnership with new business tools
The expanded tie-up gives businesses new AI tools for workflows, app building and security testing, while smaller firms get a free-to-start bundle.
Horizon3 links NodeZero findings with Cortex XSOAR
Security teams can now push attacker-validated weaknesses into existing response queues, helping them prioritise fixes and retest them after remediation.
Norton launches Safe AI protections for chat tools
New protections in Norton 360 aim to stop AI chatbots from opening unsafe links, accessing files or carrying out unauthorised actions on devices.
Australian firms urged to automate against AI cyberattacks
Many security teams still rely on manual processes, leaving them exposed as AI-driven attacks can move faster than they can investigate.
Arctic Wolf says AI resolves 60% of security cases
Arctic Wolf says AI now resolves 60% of security investigations, while monthly investigation volumes rise and alert volumes fall across more than 11,000 organisations.
Netgear launches cloud-managed security gateway for SMEs
Smaller branches can now add cloud-managed security from NETGEAR at USD $349.99, with the first year of Exium service included.
Leostream launches cloud remote access alternative to VPN
Organisations can now limit contractors and staff to approved machines only, avoiding wider network exposure and reducing reliance on VPNs.
Harmonic Security raises USD $50 million in Series B
Demand for tighter oversight of workplace AI has helped Harmonic Security secure USD $50 million to expand its engineering and sales teams.
Reco joins Wiz network to bolster identity security
Nearly 30 joint customers already use the link-up, which adds continuous visibility into Wiz users, service accounts and access settings.
Sonatype launches Nexus Repository Pro+ for AI screening
It blocks malicious or policy-breaking software and AI artefacts at intake, helping enterprises cut build failures, rework and release risk.
Island finds MicrosoftSystem64 campaign in GitHub repos
Developers may have been steered towards malicious code as at least 88 public GitHub repositories linked to a malware cluster surfaced in AI recommendations.
Fortinet launches cloud SASE for small branch offices
The move gives retailers and other distributed operators cloud security for small branches without adding on-site firewalls or endpoint software.
Proofpoint joins Microsoft ICES in Defender portal
Microsoft 365 customers can now review Proofpoint email threat alerts inside Defender, cutting the need to switch between security tools.
Fortinet launches AI security service for FortiGate
The cloud-delivered offering adds real-time prompt and response inspection to existing firewalls, helping firms curb shadow AI, data loss and runaway spend.
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
