By Leon Gettler, Talking Business >>

HOW has the world changed since we had remote work? And how has this impacted cyber security? Why has there been such an increase in cybercrime?

According to Denis O’Shea, who created Mobile Mentor back in New Zealand in 2024, it’s because our systems aren’t built for today’s conditions.

“Most of the crime we see today happens on computers, on people’s laptops, primarily Windows devices, and that’s where a lot of the attacks are aimed,” Mr O’Shea told Talking Business. 

“And one of the reasons that’s happened, and hackers are being so successful, is that a lot of the security infrastructure and tools we put in place were designed in the last century, before we had the vocabulary we have today around cybercrime and ransomware.

“Back in the day, we had tech passwords.

“Passwords were an amazing invention back in 1961 but now they are the single biggest reason for hacks because people’s credentials get leaked or people reuse those same credentials on different websites, and then they get stolen and sold on the dark web.”

Corporate domains are not cyber safe

Mr O’Shea, who is also Mobile Mentor’s chairman, said the other problem was people and companies having a concept of a corporate domain “and thinking everyone inside the domain is safe and everyone outside is bad”.

“Well that doesn’t work anymore because we are all taking our devices home, and we’re working on the train and plane,” he said.

“So we have security constructs and ideas from the last century that a lot of companies are still reliant upon and they’re just not fit for purpose in a day and age when we’re getting hundreds of spam emails and phishing attempts every day.”

Mr O’Shea said Mobile Mentor had addressed the issue of cybercrime by “making security invisible”.

“We know we need more security but what we need to try and do is not make it in your face,” he said.

“What we’re trying to do is use the modern tools we’ve got to enable people to go password-less and embrace things like single sign on and biometrics on our devices.

“So we’re using our faces, our fingerprints or our voice.

“There’s a whole bunch of other things we can do to put additional security on devices that enable people to be more secure than they ever were before.

“But we’re hiding it, we’re making it invisible so it’s not in the user’s face.

“But if someone is trying to breach that device, it’s a really good defence.”

Multiple-layer defences are there to use

Mr O’Shea said this more successful approach to defence was being done with layers of Microsoft technologies that most companies already haven’t yet gotten around to using.

Mr O’Shea also envisaged a time when companies would become password-less. He said most people already have devices in their pockets, their iPhones, that can read their face. This system can also be used on personal computers.

“The technology is there, we just need to be very deliberate in saying ‘this is the technology we are going to use’ so that we can move our employees away from relying on passwords,” he said.

Mr O’Shea said passwords were very easy to hack because “human beings are lazy”.

“We know from research that 6% of people use their pets’ names, and their date of birth,” he said.

“We know a huge portion of people use a spreadsheet or a word document which is sitting on their computer.

“We know that Gen Z put their work passwords on their phones.

“So human beings are lazy. We can’t remember complex passwords to every application that changes every 90 days.

“The sooner we get away from that and rely on who we are, rather than something we know, the better we will all be.” 

www.mobile-mentor.com

www.leongettler.com

Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness

https://shows.acast.com/talkingbusiness/episodes/talking-business-22-interview-with-denis-oshea-from-mobile-m

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AUSTRALIAN telecommunications innovator Macquarie Telecom – part of the Macquarie Technology Group (ASX: MAQ) – has signed a first-of-its-kind agreement with US SD-WAN technology leader VeloCloud to provide its systems to managed service providers (MSPs) across Australia.

The initial four-year agreement will be supported by an investment – worth an estimated A$30 million – by Macquarie Telecom, enabling it to offer the best commercial terms to MSPs on what it describes as “VeloCloud’s world-leading technology”.

Macquarie Telecom group executive, Luke Clifton said the new agreement would open software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) technology – which virtualises and simplifies networking and optimises app performance – to more MSPs and businesses while offering the greatest discounts available, helping to offset Broadcom’s recently-enacted price rises to its VeloCloud technologies. 

Macquarie gains special partner status

The arrangement comes as Macquarie Telecom becomes VeloCloud’s only Australian ‘Pinnacle Partner’ – a feat it has achieved through pioneering SD-WAN in Australia in 2017 and since deploying the technology to more businesses in Australia than any other provider.

Mr Clifton said the agreement was a testament to the company’s bet on bringing SD-WAN to Australia in 2017 and, more recently, expanding into Security Access Service Edge (SASE), which would generate significant value for Australia’s channel.

“We’ve worked closely with VeloCloud and nearly all of our customers to harness the value of this technology while major telcos have maintained a complete lack of vision, zero innovation, and buried their heads in the sand,” Mr Clifton said.

“We see many of the same issues affecting our traditional mid-sized-enterprise customer base hitting the channel. They’re overcharged and underserved by vendors and major telcos, and we can deliver a far better experience together.”

Now, he said Macquarie would extend that SD-WAN value to the information and communications technology (ICT) channel in an offering comprising hardware, licensing, managed services, carriage, and industry-leading, net promoter score (NPS)-proven customer service.

A major advantage, he said, was that partners would be working with a local provider that operates in Australian dollars, providing better price certainty given the risk of fluctuating exchange rates and changes in vendor pricing.

Marketing changes to drive VeloCloud

Macquarie Telecom has also announced the promotion of current chief marketing officer, Tony Emmanouil to director of marketing and channel, leading the company’s VeloCloud Partner Channel and working closely with partners.

“This agreement empowers us to deploy a wide range of VeloCloud solutions, ranging from licencing to fully managed services to best suit different partners across Australia,” Mr Emmanouil said.

“This isn’t just a re-sell play, we will go to market with partners to bring the world’s leading SD-WAN technology to their customer base. We’ve got a truly unique blend of experience, expertise, commercial value and service to enable more partners to bring this technology to a greater cross-section of Australian businesses.”

Broadcom’s VeloCloud division vice president and general manager Sanjay Uppal said, “With this partnership, we can serve the needs of people who otherwise may not get access to this advanced technology.

“The world is changing, with new apps coming in, security threats, and people are really relying on their distributed networks a lot more on a day-by-day basis. This partnership together really epitomises what people are looking for in mid-to-large enterprises.”

www.macquarietelecom.com.au

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By Leon Gettler, Talking Business >>

ONE OF THE BIG ISSUES with cyber security in Australia is the lack of expertise.

Jason Baden, F5’s regional vice-president for Australia and New Zealand, said the situation in Australia was so critical that cyber criminals were targeting secondary schools. He said this meant that every organisation, large or small, needed to be cyber aware, because they’re carrying personal data.

“The level of skill sets and requirements for security now has increased across all companies,” Mr Baden told Talking Business.

“Anywhere that has personal information that could be a target, with any criminal looking to get into an organisation, they’re going to look for the weakest link.

“Now what that means is that every single person will have to have a great security posture.” 

Pay attention now

Mr Baden said this was particularly pertinent now, when people were making mistakes all the time, clicking on any link and responding to emails sent out by cyber criminals.

This meant that organisations needed to prioritise cyber education for all staff.

“From an F5 perspective, we look after the application from an enterprise level but every organisation needs to ensure they’ve got great education because there are phishing links, all types of areas where they can be contacted,” he said.

This means the cyber security education needed to be across everyone in the organisations, at all levels.

“Every single person in the organisation is responsible for cyber security,” Mr Baden said.

“Previously with cyber security, companies would leave it to their IT teams, the networks team, to the cyber team.

“As we’ve continued on, we’ve seen much more of the business CEOs, the CFOS, they’re much more interested in what they’re spending their money on and what are they getting for that money and where is that going and will that cover them off.”

Mr Baden said one of the challenges with cyber security was locating where applications were being hosted to ensure their security. Potentially every bank, government instrumentality or telco would have their own applications.

“We manage security for multiple different companies and the way that occurs is that the major banks, the major governments, the telecommunications companies all have different ways of delivering those applications, whether it’s to pay your bills, whether it’s to get information and the most important thing is wherever that sits, you are able to make sure you’ve got that security portfolio covered across all those areas,” Mr Baden said.

Listen to cyber specialists

To address the skills shortages in cyber security, Mr Baden said, “there can never be enough” specialists, so a lot of companies are now turning to SAAS (software as a service) solutions for global threats.

“Now if you don’t have all those skills sets and you can leverage someone who’s hot on SAAS, then if there is a threat anywhere across the world, that can be replicated into your security portfolio before you can be attacked,” he said.

In Australia, Mr Baden said, there was a requirement for company directors to be aware of cyber security. That was part of the board governance today.

He said with all the brand damage now being done by cybercrime – for companies like Optus, Latitude and Medibank – companies have been investing heavily in cyber security over the last five years.

“What it does is it brings it back to the fact that these high-profile breaches have meant that nobody wants to be called on that, so everyone is investing to make sure they can avoid that,” he said.

www.leongettler.com

www.f5.com

Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness

https://shows.acast.com/talkingbusiness/episodes/talking-business-44-interview-with-jason-baden-from-f5

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By Leon Gettler, Talking Business >>

IMAGINE a technology that not only preserves the life of mines, but restores discarded mines to production and ensures the metals are processed sustainably.

That sums up what’s been developed by Queensland entrepreneur and mining industry veteran Andrew Job.

Mr Job said the technology behind his company, Plotlogic, is unique. It combines sensors and artificial intelligence (AI) to go into existing mining operations and set up those mines to produce more metal off a lower carbon base.

“That makes the mines essentially more efficient, producing the metals we need to power the clean economy, but also at the same time makes those mines able to produce that off a lower carbon base,” Mr Job told Talking Business.  

Technological breakthroughs in mining

Mr Job said the technology, which he developed out of his PhD, was critical for the Plotlogic.

“The imaging aspect of what we use goes beyond the visible part of the light spectrum,” he said.

“Traditional imagery works in red, green and blue. That’s three colour channels which is what our eyes are used to seeing.

“Our technology works in the infra-red part of the light spectrum as well and goes out into things we can’t see with human eyes but are really relevant when you’re trying to determine different rock and mineral properties,” Mr Job said.

“It collects a huge amount of data. For a typical camera there are three colour channels. For our technology, there are 460 colour channels and we use that huge amount of information on every single pixel to run a whole bunch of artificial intelligence over the top of it to predict rock properties.

“Because we are able to scan and scan so many rocks real quickly, and determine those rock properties with a high degree of accuracy, it gives an unprecedented level of knowledge for mine operators to run their mines very efficiently. So, they can make accurate determinations about the ore material, the waste material, (or) if there is anything that will slow the plant down in terms of chewing up a huge amount of energy.”

Mines produce higher quality mineral levels, sustainably

Mr Job said the Plotlogic technology allows the life of mines to be extended.

It also allows mine operators to go into previously abandoned mines.

“We can now go into those operations that were previously uneconomic or (left) some sort of environmental legacy and use our technology to clean up the operation,” Mr Job said.

“It basically means new resources are unlocked that were previously tied up or considered to be uneconomic or too hard to access.”

He said the sensing technology and AI could also improve the workings of a whole bunch of other industries.

Plotlogic has also worked with tungsten producer EQ Resources in far north Queensland and lithium producers.

Plotlogic has a strong patent portfolio with its proprietary technology and it is also expanding overseas. This includes working with producers in Brazil and Indonesia,

“We see ourselves having an important role to play in the international mining industry,” Mr Job said.

“We certainly see ourselves being an international player,” he said.

“Obviously the mining industry is global in its nature, there are deposits all over the planet.

“We see that our technology can be really beneficial, no matter where that deposit is located, whether that’s in South America, North America, Indonesia or other parts of the world.” 

www.plotlogic.com

www.leongettler.com

Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness

https://shows.acast.com/talkingbusiness/episodes/talking-business-42-interview-with-andrew-job-from-plotlogic

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