Info & Advice

Sometimes the first step in a cyberattack isn’t code. It’s a click. A single login involving one username and password can give an intruder a front-row seat to everything your business does online. This guide looks at how to make life much harder for would-be intruders. The aim isn’t to drown you in tech jargon. Instead, it’s to give IT-focused small businesses a playbook that moves past the basics and into practical, advanced measures you can start using now.

Managed security services provider Advantage is drawing attention to its appointment as an AWS Channel Partner Private Offer partner through distributor NEXTGEN. The agreement makes available various software solutions through the AWS Marketplace platform, enhancing Advantage’s ability to deliver value-added solutions to its clients.

We interviewed Brad Pearpoint about why Cyber Security is a core pillar of Advantage. He talks about the fact that security is a business-critical issue for businesses across all sectors and that every organisation, regardless of size, is facing growing pressures to protect data, ensure continuity of business and meet changing compliance requirements. He outlines how Advantage is responding to this issue with a client-first approach. 

So, in recent times we’ve seen airline Qantas falling victim to a cyberattack which hit a third-party contact centre platform potentially exposing personal details of up to 6 million customers. On the NZ side of the ditch, New World took an arrow to the knee with a password spraying attack.

On Friday, 30th June 2025, Qantas confirmed a cyber incident affecting one of its offshore third-party contact centres. Approximately six million customer records were accessed, exposing personal information including names, contact details (email and phone number), Date of Birth and frequent flyer numbers. No financial or authentication credentials (such as passwords or card data) were determined to be accessed at this time.

Those who’ve tracked my ramblings over the years will note a measure of (shock, horror) cynicism in the FUD seemingly churned out as a byproduct of the infosec industry. And here we are again;

From the wonderfully complex defining most of infosec, we swiftly move to the wonderfully simple. Better a safeword, than a sorry one.

Every morning, I stand before my coffee machine, a humble supplicant seeking caffeine. Sound familiar? Probably because you find yourself in much the same position (though in your home, not mine). But the coffee machine is wiser than it appears: It doesn’t care that I’ve spent years navigating the wilds of cybersecurity while exploring select espressos from Brazil and beyond.

Seasoned information security professional Gary Botha has joined Palmerston North-headquartered national cybersecurity and managed services specialist Advantage as Technical Director.

How can a legal firm protect against data loss when blocking and traditional DLP techniques would restrict business operations?

Microsoft 365 is a powerful suite of tools. It helps to enhance productivity and collaboration. This is especially true for small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs).

In a week of wins for Advantage New Zealand, the company was named SentinelOne Asia Pacific Japan Partner of the Year, while also leading the pack in signing up for the vendor’s Singularity Platform service located in a new virtual data centre in Australia