In the July episode of Between Two Techies, stay up to date with the latest cybersecurity developments. Mitch and Levi recap the key cyber events from last month that matter to you, share their predictions for the month ahead, and deliver practical tips with plenty of casual banter.

Mitch and Levi Thurston discuss current insurance and tech trends, highlighting widespread red notices excluding cyber and property coverage for war, terrorism, and Middle East-related risks. They welcome the growing push for mandatory cyber insurance for government contractors, which could raise industry standards. On the tech side, they cover fluctuating hardware prices, RAM shortages, practical AI adoption, and caution against rushing into AI tools without proper care. The episode offers light, practical insights for Australian businesses without hype.

In this episode of Between Two Techies, Mitch and Levi casually chat for 20 minutes about the latest cybersecurity threats, supply chain disruptions, IoT risks, insurance implications from global events, and other incidents from the past month, upcoming risks to watch, key changes in the landscape, and simple practical tips for businesses - delivered with light banter and a quick Q&A.

Mitch and Levi deliver their monthly casual 20-minute chat on cybersecurity for small to medium businesses, particularly in regional Australia. They recap the latest cyber threats and notable incidents from January/early February, discuss evolving changes in the cybersecurity landscape (including new risks and regulations), share what to watch out for in the coming month, and offer practical, no-nonsense tips for better protection - such as simple best practices to avoid common pitfalls. True to the series style, the episode mixes straightforward advice with light banter and ends with a short Q&A, aimed at business owners who want clear insights without heavy technical jargon.

Mitch and Levi recap 2025 cybersecurity trends and share predictions for 2026. They discuss rising cyber claims, third-party breaches, updated data breach laws, and growing awareness among small businesses of supply chain risks. Looking ahead, they foresee a global RAM shortage from new data centers, increased AI governance needs, stricter regulatory scrutiny, a maturing cyber insurance market, and ongoing social media privacy debates. The casual chat offers practical insights for businesses on compliance and risk management.

This episode explores the importance of proper standalone cyber insurance over weak extensions in management liability policies, which often lack real incident support. They highlight poor practices like a major bank requesting sensitive client data via email and stress building a true security culture rather than tick-box compliance. Key advice includes using established frameworks (like risk-based ISO 27001), minimising stored PII, using secure portals instead of email, and preparing continuity plans with offline "black box" contacts and regular tabletop drills.

Mitch and Levi cover the first major class action under Australia's updated Privacy Act (Slater & Gordon vs an IVF provider), ongoing Akira ransomware attacks targeting SonicWall users in Australia, and global incidents like the Asahi beer outage and UK government bailout of Jaguar Land Rover. They recommend small businesses adopt the simple SMB101 cybersecurity framework, get proper cyber insurance, and build strong incident reporting processes.

Mitch and Levi discuss business apathy toward cyber risks, comparing it to ignoring a broken door after a physical break-in. They reference incidents like Optus, Medibank, and Latitude, plus ongoing threats including VPN exploits without MFA, password reuse, and the SonicWall vulnerability. Key advice: treat cyber insurance as essential (along with management liability and fidelity cover), enforce MFA everywhere, use password managers, and adopt proper risk management like ISO 27001 over tick-the-box compliance. They note stabilizing insurance premiums and stress moving to proactive security.

In this episode of Between Two Techies, Mitch and Levi cover: Akamai ransomware exploiting a SonicWall firewall zero-day; a sysadmin hacked via password reuse from a comic book shop; massive SaaS sprawl risks (one client had 78 apps, most unmanaged); and the need for a simple software register. They stress getting cyber insurance early (at least $1M cover, as 82% of TSPs are badly underinsured) and using paid AI tools like ChatGPT Plus to avoid data leaks. Quick tips: use password managers and ensure data stays in approved jurisdictions.