A few follow ups on last week's news:
A review of the Department of Home Affairs ICT capability found "over 40% of 480 distinct business systems have already reached end-of-life" and that "resources required to sustain, and in future replace, these assets are yet to be fully funded". It's also bad that the few modernisation attempts they tried "had not progressed due to funding, staffing levels and executive sponsorship". The report reckons resources given to Home Affairs for ICT make it "currently not positioned to deliver beyond maintenance, let alone improve its ability to radically transform its technology and use of data". I'm sure this isn't a problem for the arm of government tasked with "cyber and critical infrastructure resilience and security" and "the protection of our sovereignty".
There's a few of you who work for Canva that read this, so I'm sorry for shitting on your employer like this, but goddamn the "two minute rap video" from Canva Create last week is one of the most cringeworthy and out of touch things I've ever seen in tech - and I've sat through keynotes from Samsung back in the early 2010s. Apparently it was on purpose according to Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht, posting on Linkedin, who said "we decided to be ourselves, do something different and not take ourselves too seriously. Haters gonna hate (insert laugh crying emoji here)", trying to explain how they wanted to do something different than copying "Steve Jobs launching the iPhone". Yes, sure you are Cliffy, if that's what makes you sleep at night in your giant bed filled with money, keep at it bro.
Perhaps not news for most of you reading this, but the Australian Cyber Security Centre has a handy blog post about practical cyber security tips for business leaders - aka your dumb as fuck boss who hates IT and will absolutely throw you under the bus should anything bad happen despite your repeated warnings. It explains that enabling multi-factor authentication, updating and patching your apps & OS, plus having a backup of your important data will save your businesses arse should it get haX0red. It also explains why you need to secure social media, why you should separate personal and business email/comms, and why encryption is good. Hope you find it useful!
Computers crashing, Judy Horacek, 2002 (National Library of Australia)
📻 Lost Meaning - Cloakroom
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