Guest Post - IoT - Brigitte Lewis

By Guest Writer - Brigitte Lewis

From space, to transport, to the design of cities, IoT is the latest acronym to sweep the cyber landscape.

IoT is short for Internet of Things and was coined by Kevin Ashton in 1999.  IoT is any device, be it your phone, laptop or Raspberry Pi that is connected to the internet. And so these devices come to be known as 'things', especially as more things like light globes, fridges, watches, TVs and vending machines are internet enabled. 

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Depending on your position, this is either great for business or terrible for the human proclivity towards laziness because who wouldn't want to turn their lights off from the comfort of bed right?

Business and government are particularly keen on the Internet of Things and what it can potentially do in terms of increased productivity, efficiency and citizen engagement. But the take home from many of the sessions at Melbourne's recent IoT Festival was that many people have no idea what IoT is or how it can impact them in positive ways.

Traffic lights that are IoT enabled can send data back to traffic controllers (both real life and digital) who can then increase or decrease stopping signals depending on traffic flow and therefore make our roads less congested and more efficient. Goodbye bumper to bumper (I can dream).

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A water company in South Korea was fitted out with IoT devices by local Mount Waverly team Freestyle Technology. What this meant from a social good perspective is that when their devices that were fitted to local houses detected zero water usage, a social worker was then called out to check whether the resident was in distress. This is in addition to the usual ways you could imagine IoT and smart water working. These range from detecting leaks with much greater speed, creating alerts if there are failures along the pipeline, tracking worker locations to minimising down time because the whole system is delivered in real-time and able to visualised and understood remotely.

Japanese smoking rooms are also a great example of IoT enabled things. The devices in these rooms can detect how many people are in the room and increase or decrease the ventilation required which resulted in a 30% increase in energy savings for companies who use them.

Gelato companies have partnered with uber so their clients can literally track how far away their sugar hit is. Farmers have taken up the call with water monitors that are IoT enabled. These devices send famers a message if their livestock's water is low and save them from dehydration and potential loss of income from sick animals. Coca-cola envision a day in the not too distant future where drones drop off coke via your GPS location so you could be sipping coke while you wait for your pizza delivery in the park on a Sunday arvo, which is already has IoT written all over it.

In Queensland the government developed an open data policy and provided an app called Breathe Easy which measures air pollution & water quality so residents can decide where they'd like to live based on environmental concerns.

The word on the street is that people are hungry for tech and IoT enables devices are the latest way to get satiated. But with all the data being collected already and an estimated 75 billion devices predicted to be online by 2020, the kinds of data being collected is also crucial so we don't end up with systems and languages and devices that don't talk back to one another.

Standardisation is key when thinking about where to from here as are guidelines around the security of IoT devices from the code used to create the interface to the person or people on the other end. Many of the security issues that we already face with devices such as our laptops and phones are exactly the same. From insecure code, users with insecure passwords and people all along the supply-chain without sufficient knowledge of what it is to be secure and what it all means on a day-to-day way when you engage in risky behaviour. The answer as always is education.

Another key take home from the conference, is how important the ability to tell stories is. Being able to communicate how and why the IoT can be useful to businesses and communities is the first step in bringing audiences outside of already informed IT spaces on board. And it's the sounding board for great innovation and diversity when it comes to new ways to address societal and business related issues. STEAM or Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths majors will come into their own in this space and are why there are ever louder calls for people with communications skills to enter the IT industry.

There are no current accepted standards when it comes to the IoT. What there is, however, are Australian guidelines which outline the importance of embedding security in IoT devices and therefore code from the ground up, rather than as an afterthought which is often the case. Data security is also crucial, especially with the recent global attacks and the proliferation of highly sensitive data connected to IoT devices like health records. Additionally, monitoring of devices is important to enable vulnerabilities are identified before they become a beacon for hackers and of course, ongoing compliance and risk assessment as landscapes, software, users and hacks change and evolve, often on a daily basis.

IoT is here and chances are, you're already a node in the network.

Bio

Brigitte attended the IoT Festival on behalf of the organisers. She's a writer and sociologist turned cyber security researcher with a fervour for exploring the ways the digital can create social change. You can read her latest article on the rise of feminist lead hashtags on Twitter here.  

(c) AWSN 2018

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any agency, organisation or association.

Guest Post - Getting more women on-the-podium - Catherine McGrath

By Guest Writer - Catherine McGrath

Getting more women on-the-podium at conferences & events Catherine McGrath founder of #WomenSpeaking workshops

$200 discount per full price ticket for AWSN members email Catherine for the code or direct payment.

Seeing women at the forefront of public discourse is essential to gender equity. For AWSN members I pose these questions: 

are you seeing women at the front of your industry? 

• Are they visible? 
• Are senior women leading national debates, speaking at conferences, being quoted in newspapers and are they CEOs and senior managers?

The answer is suspect is ‘yes but not enough’. 

In this, the cybersecurity sector is like many others. Change is happening, but it is patchy and not everyone has the voice or the opportunity to speak.

Many women feel disempowered as they try to advance their careers without enough professional support.

I know how you feel. I have recently moved from a 30-year career as a leading broadcaster in television and radio (as a foreign correspondent and political reporter for ABC & SBS). I have had to build my own confidence as a speaker through hard work, training and practical experience. It wasn’t easy. But I did it.

Now beyond journalism my work is as a keynote speaker/MC and communications trainer. I had to teach myself to feel confident in front of a live conference audience. This is different to a TV audience that you can’t see. A thousand sets of eyes on you at an event can be confronting.

My callout is to ask you to push your organisations & businesses to support you in speaker training. It is essential to building your professional skill base.

At a recent business event I hosted, questions from the floor included no questions from women. At some business events, this is not unusual. The male attendees were quick to raise their hand, one even jumped to his feet before the microphone reached him.

Other women tell me there is a simple reason for this. Many don’t feel supported enough in these environments many others don’t feel they have the skill set required. Some events seem like a male-only club.

Hats off to those women who have no trouble speaking and asking questions at conferences. You are our role models. We need more of you.

Women: our time is here but still there are too few of us speaking at conferences, events and workplace meetings. Too few of us are visible as leaders. That means our contribution as professional women isn’t being equally recognised.

Training in this area is crucial. Many of us don’t feel confident enough to speak or present in front of others. Speaking is a professional skill, as important as knowing some accounting, some law, some occupational health and safety rules etc.

If you are terrified or reluctant? You are not alone. The good news is that help is here! With help and training, you can develop the confidence to say yes to that next offer to present at a conference or event.

We, as women, have great abilities and knowledge and we should share that.

At professional panels, many of us would love to see more women up there. We would love to join in ourselves.

We need to grow the skill base for professional women so that more of us feel ready and able to take to the podium.

No professional women who is a nervous speaker would want to put their hand up to speak in front of other professionals unless they feel prepared and ready.

I have launched training for this specific purpose. I believe women need more support. We need an opportunity to practice and train in a safe environment, in a setting away from the judgement and expectations of others. We need time to learn.

WomenSpeaking workshops in Sydney and Canberra provide a cost-effective one-day training where groups of professional women can learn and develop the skills they need.

Ask your organisations to send you.

Women from many different sectors come along. We have had a lot of attendees from STEM professions.

In workshops we break up into small groups where you get individual attention from experts including myself, an actor/voice coach, a TV/stage presence specialist and a writer/editor. 

Attendees get strategic and practical support in speech writing and presentation skills. There is specialist voice training and on-the-podium practice with a microphone. How does it feel to stand on a stage say your name and look out at an audience? It can be scary but practice in a real or simulated environment is the way to reduce the fear.

This is what our attendees say ‘‘I walked out a different person equipped with knowledge, skills, confidence & a tool-kit to keep me going on my journey.’

‘I only wish I’d done this 10 years ago so that I could have realised the value and satisfaction in communicating my voice.’

‘WomenSpeaking is more than training. It is a supportive network that empowers you to step into your own skin and be confident. Highly recommend.’

Next event Sydney Swissotel July 6^th book here:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/women-speaking-workshop-to-boost-speaking-skills-confidence-sydney-registration-45393083936

Inquiries: 

         

$200 discount per full price ticket for AWSN members email above for code or direct payment.

More on women speakers please see the guest post by Lidia Giuliano: Where are all the women 

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If you are interested in writing a guest post for this blog please read the submission guidelines here >> AWSNblog-guest_post_guidelines <<

(c) AWSN 2018

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any agency, organisation or association.

Guest Post - Productivity Series - Aparna Burke

 

While most clever blogs and articles offer insights to help you live your best life, my blog on productivity is what some might call an epic fail. No tips or tricks to be found here; what I do offer however is a story that made me think twice about what I do, and remind myself why I do it.

“Thanks for abandoning me”.

He wasn’t abandoned in the true sense of the word, not in the melodramatic I-left-to-get-a-litre-of-milk-and-never-came-back-kind-of-way.

But, in his 9-year-old mind, it made sense to use that word, in that situation, the day I forgot to organise a different option for school pick as the MIL couldn’t make it.

In a thirty second window between meetings, I had fixed it and he was swiftly collected.

Needless to say, I felt like crap. And then, with the deft precision that only small children have, he made me feel worse, quietly saying on the phone, I don’t want to talk about it now, I want to talk about it face to face. 

CUE THE MOTHERGUILT

By the time we were face to face he had forgotten about it. But I hadn’t. 

Why did I forget, why didn’t I write it down, why didn’t I organise myself the day I found out MIL couldn’t do it? Are my productivity tools not working?!

I consider myself to be a pretty organised person, but while performing the juggling game of life, with one leg in the air and the other balancing on a stilt, I sometimes drop the ball. 

My brain has reached the point of saturation, so I write things down. I use various electronic tools to track my work/meetings etc, but, I love writing (and shiny pens with pineapple tips) so I have a work diary and use wall calendars and journals and lists. Who doesn’t love a good list?

And then, I want to do all the things. I ‘aint turning down nothing but my collar…

 N.B I don’t really do all of the things, I hate laundry and gardening never makes it onto my good lists.

I love my family. I love my friends. I love my job and my fur baby is the best. I know the difference between busy and productive. I know what my priorities are. I don’t feel like I need balance, I need time. 

Now that I’m older, I am trying so hard to avoid falling victim to the myth of immortality, squeezing every last drop of life out of my allocated daily minutes, I fear I am undoing all my industrious efforts to fit it all in.

I’m consciously stopping for the roses but do I always smell them before I move to the next thing on my list?

Am I so focussed on doing all the things that I forget to reflect on some of the things?

Working in corrections I often came across the criminal offence “loitering with intent”. It is the difference between hanging around and hanging around with a purpose.

This made me think, maybe I’m already productive enough. Maybe the key to my best life is to learn how to loiter with intent (and without getting arrested). 

Aparna Burke

Communications Advisor, RSM

Having worked over 18 years in corrective services, running treatment programs, working on policy and managing strategic communications, I am now happily employed with RSM Australia. I work in Perth’s Tax Services Division as a Communications Advisor. 

(c) AWSN 2018

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any agency, organisation or association.

Diversity - harness the differences to work together and achieve greatness

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By Amanda-Jane Turner - Chief Editor and Manager of the AWSN official blog

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“I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.”-  Mother Theresa

I passionately believe in a diverse workforce and community to embrace all types of people with all sorts of education, personality, gender, race and culture to make the world better. Harnessing a diverse workforce gives access to skills, innovation and networks that otherwise may not be open to us; a diverse group together can achieve great things. 

Without diversity, workplaces and communities have the same types of people in the same types of roles doing the same things, with no new ideas, skills or positive disruption to encourage a change for the better.

Without diversity our ideas are never challenged, we will not learn and grow, we will stagnate and lose innovation.

I firmly believe that diversity is much more than gender, it is personality, beliefs, culture, race, education, ability and disability, background and preferences - it is acceptance and embracing of differences that can be harnessed to improve our work and our world.  What can we do to make diversity accepted and disrupt the stereotypes?

 This post has been created by A. Turner

(c) AWSN 2017

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any agency, organisation or association.

The birth of the Australian Women in Security Network (AWSN)

This post has been written by the AWSN founder, Jacqui Loustau AWSN is an industry network with the aim of connecting, supporting, collaborating, and inspiring women in the security industry. 

The network literally came to life after my son was born, during my maternity leave. Lack of sleep, happy hormones, the need to do something other than change nappies and clean the house, I decided to start something I have always felt passionate about. I wanted to connect with other women in security, to see if anyone else felt the same way as I did and understand if they had the same need to help our industry.

I wanted to share the story of how AWSN started, because I think it is important to understand where the vision came from, how it was formed and what we are trying to achieve.

AWSN founder Jacqui Loustai

What Diversity Means to me - by Olga Kiconco

This post has been authored by Olga Kiconco. Olga Is active in the Brisbane branch of the Australian Information Security Association and is working with the Branch Exec of AISA Brisbane, Mandy Turner, on the AISA Brisbane branch Diversity Initiative. Olga has a Bachelor’s Degree in Telecommunications Engineering and EC Council certifications in Ethical Hacking (CEH) and Security Analysis (ECSA) and a Masters in International Business. Olga is a thought leader and strategist and is currently seeking a fulfilling career InfoSec

Olga Kiconco (Photo Credit - Olga Kiconco

What does diversity mean to you?
Over the recent years, diversity and inclusion have been a ‘hot topic’ from governments to business executives; kindergartens to higher education institutions, and through personal and professional experience, my resonance with this term has evolved. 

Right from when I was young, I have always been passionate about technology, and knew this was the industry for me when my mum set up a home computer when I was 7. Like any other curious kid, I used to muck around with different software and play computer games on that good old ‘TINY’ computer (Don’t think they exist anymore!). I later on progressed to fixing electronics around the house, as my mother was convinced I had magical hands.
However, the greater majority of women not only in my home country, Uganda, but worldwide do not have a similar tale. The gender gap in technology has impelled me to look deeper and understand why this is so. 

Boys > Girls
Back in the day (well...at least according to my mum), there were less than a handful of secondary schools that offered girls A’ Level education, moreover, most of the young women enrolled in Arts subjects. Those who stopped at O’ Levels either moved on to Teacher Training Colleges (popularly known as TTCs), Nursing school or took on Secretarial courses. I mean no disrespect to the ladies in these professions, but I just want to enlighten you about the deep-rooted societal disparity in the ratio of girls to boys taking on STEM subjects. 

There are some cultures that still have the view that the woman’s place is in the kitchen and do not bother educating their girls. Boys are given preferential treatment and are sent to school since their return on investment is higher than their female counterparts.
Fortunately, the number of secondary schools admitting girls for A’ Levels has increased since the ‘80s and some of the traditional all-girls schools have produced some of Uganda’s most prominent women in the STEAM fields. 

Breaking the status quo!
I completed my six year secondary education at one of those and developed some vital life skills that have carried me through the years such as resilience, team work and empathy for others. We were smart and driven young women who leveraged our different talents in different subjects to help and motivate each other and it was there I decided that I wanted to be an engineer as I excelled in Maths and Physics. I also broke the conventional maternal profession of banking and business. 

Being in such an environment made it appear to be the norm choosing fields perceived to be challenging and masculine, but I later found out my peers in mixed schools were initially bullied for enrolling in Science subjects.

My mother gave me the opportunity of pursuing my undergraduate education in Malaysia, as the IT industry in Asia was growing rapidly. I knew that this was a different domain altogether, and that my Engineering classes would have a smattering of fellow Africans. In the early stages, being one of the other Ugandan girls in my class as we were rather noticeable was quite unsettling. We had to learn how to step out of our comfort zone and made friends with our countrymen as well as some locals. We held group discussions and revision, and used our strengths in the various challenging subjects to help each other excel. I achieved my goal and graduated as a Telecommunications Engineer, something my mum doesn’t forget to bring up, given the opportune moment! 

There is no ‘I’ in TEAM
For postgrad, I did a Masters in International Business (I didn’t escape fate after all). The program is designed such that teams of 4-6 different nationalities and educational backgrounds tackle contemporary business challenges in management, strategy, finance, CSR, to mention but a few. Initially, this somewhat felt like the Hunger Games as it was very competitive and most of us had stereotypical perceptions of each other. As the weeks went by, we learned more about each other and used the varying team dynamics, vast experiences and skill sets to innovate feasible solutions to our assigned cases. 

These enriching experiences have shaped my view of the world and I feel that people should take advantage of the great opportunity of an increasingly globalized world to look at things from a different perspective. Diversity enriches creativity in solving problems and facilitates critical thinking, skills that are essential for one’s personal and professional development.

I believe each of us is a pixel in the bigger picture.

 “If you want to be successful, you should be able to relate to people from all walks of life.” ~ Zain Asher, CNN Correspondent

 This post has been written by Olga Kiconco and uploaded by A Turner on behalf of AWSN. 

(c) AWSN 2016

There’s more than one definition for diversity

A post by Claire Fulford, business owner, security professional and passionate supporter of diversity.

People talk about wanting diversity but not everyone defines it the same way.  When I resigned from my role in Hong Kong last year, I contacted recruiters in Australia.  Many told me that my 3+ years of Asian experience meant nothing in Australia and that if I wasn’t technical I was going to struggle to get work.  The fact that I was a woman “helped” but I was going to have to “take a lower role to get some Australian experience”. I was returning to a country that prided itself on its commitment to diversity and yet I was told I needed to be like everyone else in order to secure a senior role.  Fortunately for me, it was my network that brought the right role to my attention. 

I’ve never really been one for the whole diversity thing. I’m more about the right person for the right job…no matter the gender, age, race, religion or preference for Beatles or Elvis (for the record…I'm a Beatles fan). 

Beatles or Elvis? Diversity! (Ímage owner unknown)

People are people and it’s unfortunate that we are at a place in our history where we require quotas to make sure there’s enough ‘diversity’ in decision making roles (and will continue to be in the future).  And let’s be honest, when most businesses say they are looking for diversity…they really mean women. Which is a shame given how ‘diverse’ diversity can be when you put your mind to it. 

After recently working on an article for CSO Online with Micah and Iresha from AWSN, I felt aligned with the interviewees whose responses reflected more than one definition for diversity.  There’s diverse culture, diverse career backgrounds, diverse thinking, diverse work locations and diverse values – all of these things and more make for a better equipped workforce.

With the current state of the information security industry, its challenging to find roles that fit our vast, varied and diverse experience.  If you need some support to get into the industry or to find your next role to stay in the industry (because this is proving to be just a big a challenge as entry), support can be found here at AWSN.  Establishing your strengths, deciding where you want to be and who you might need to meet to get you there can make the world of difference.  Come along to our lunches, reach out at conferences and connect with other AWSN members to find coaches, mentors and more.  We look forward to meeting you…male, female, senior, junior, Elvis or Beatles… everyone is welcome.

 This post has been created by A Turner on behalf of AWSN. 

(c) AWSN 2016

Have you seen the article featuring some of our AWSN members?

AWSN in the news - CSO . com 

The article highlights the thoughts on diversity of six champions of diversity who were recently nominated for awards at the AISA National Conference 2016. 

Thank you to the authors of the motivating article who are also AWSN members and supporters, Iresha Fernando, Micah Agustin and Claire Fulford.

The article is available from this link.

For other news items about AWSN and its members please see this page.

 This post has been created byA Turner on behalf of AWSN. 

(c) AWSN 2016

Congratulations to AWSN founder - Jacqui Loustau - Award winner AISA 2016

Diversity in Cyber Security Award - AISA 2016

Congratulations to AWSN founder Jacqui Loustau who won the diversity award at the 2016 AISA National conference!

Jacqui with her award AISA National conference 2016

• Over the past 18 months, Jacqui has worked tirelessly to get the AWSN off the ground. In addition to raising her young family and delivering on her work commitments, Jacqui has worked many volunteer hours each week on AWSN and partnering with other related organisations like AISA and the SANS Institute

• The growth has been very strong with over 300 members in AWSN’s LinkedIn group. AWSN grows each day and has chapters established across Australia in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane and Perth with plan to develop AWSN chapters in Adelaide, Hobart and Darwin, if there are members interested in taking leadership roles

• This year, AWSN has hosted networking events and learning opportunities in five states; facilitated mentoring and on-the-job training opportunities; contributed to women in security research; presented at universities and in the creation of a job profile project.

 This post has been created by Amanda-Jane Turner on behalf of AWSN. 

(c) AWSN 2016