Quantum Summer Camp 2026
Oh this is so cool. And I honestly didn’t expect I’d be able to understand Quantum computing, let alone enjoy it so much. I’m on a mission to learn all I can about emerging technologies, particularly AI and quantum computing, because Canada is showing the world what we can do, and be very clear that what’s ours is ours unless we choose to share it. That means billions of dollars being spent on infrastructure, technology and defence. ALL of which are tasty targets that need cybersecurity. I caught a segment on Global TV’s “The West Block” featuring the very articulate and poised Niki Harris who discussed geopolitics, China, and Canada’s opportunity to lead with quantum. She introduced me to Quantum Security Defence -QSecDef- a global organization helping people understand and prepare for the transition to Quantum computing. They are running a 10 week summer camp program of Tuesday lectures and it’s great! I am proud to share that I successfully completed their Quantum Fundamentals training and have earned this certification.
Atlantic Security Conference 2026
This was my fifth time presenting at an excellent Canadian cybersecurity event that brings together people from the business, researchers, practitioners, students, government and defence sectors. I was truly honoured to be selected as a speaker this year, given the high number of excellent submissions. Thank you to everyone who came to my talk especially Lina Dabit and Manuel Charette, CCISO, CISSP.
Highlights included kickstarting the day with Dave Lewis and Wendy Nather. The joy of reconnecting and making new connections. Chance encounters at coat racks with Shruti Mukherjee. Let’s do that again next year! Enjoying presentations and lunch table conversations with new attendees Elena Kolomeets. Seeking desserts but finding Jarett Parent instead. Geeking out over the need for community resilience and growing local skills is better than pastry! Attending so many great talks! Sharing life lessons and popcorn in Amy Yee ; “No way!” War stories with Brendan Hohenadel ; Appreciating the sincerity of leadership and community building Julien Richard brings; Prompting fake friends with AI and Snapchat by Ian MacMillan. Dinners and hugs with great people: David Shipley, Gurjeet C., Max Cizauskas, Bhavya Kapoor and more.
This is why.
I Did A Thing! Proud to be a Contributing Author
Stardate 01/29/2026
This is so special to me, and I am deeply honoured to have been asked to be a contributing author to the annual report “State of Cybersecurity in Canada Report 2026” by the Canadian Cybersecurity Network (CCN). There is a wealth of analysis and expertise contained, uniquely focused on Canada, by senior leaders and highly experienced people in the field. Here is the link: https://canadiancybersecuritynetwork.com/download-the-ccn-2026-state-of-cybersecurity-report
My submission is titled “Securing Critical Infrastructure: Canada Can Light the Way Forward”, on page 55. To know me is to know my interest in threats targeting critical infrastructure and helping those defenders. Across 2025, I gave a series of talks with James Troutman about how bad things happen to critical infrastructure, the societal impact, and the need for resilience. That inspired my contribution to the report, and here is an abstract: 2025 has been a year of volatility and seismic change, affecting international relations, the economy, and the environment. Canada’s new opportunities, as outlined by Prime Minister Carney, feature our strengths in natural resources, technology and AI. However, none of this can happen without critical infrastructure, which underpins all that we need and aspire to. As our world evolves beyond expectations, organizations, public and private, must rapidly respond and change course from our existing strategies to ensure our nation’s digital sovereignty and endurance for the future. Mitigation and recovery will require resilience powered by community and collaboration, and situations will become greater than individual nations can come back from on their own. I believe that through our domestic initiatives and international cooperation, Canada can light the way toward global resilience and collaboration for the journey ahead. As the saying goes, “if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
I hope you’ll download a copy of the report and find some good stuff to work with.
Well Hell-Ohh! And it’s 2026
STARDATE 01/23/2026
I’d love to say “Blink and you missed it” for the remainder of 2025, but alas, we weren’t so lucky. It wasn’t just some bad dream we woke up from, sighed, and shook off. Instead, it followed us right into the new year. I joke about my uncanny ability to “see bad things” but I really don’t like being right. Let’s call 2025 the opening act to the main event aka 2026 and what comes next.
This year isn’t going to be about just fixing what’s broke, or cleaning up the damage. It’s going to be about learning to live with the damage done. Once dedicated guardians in a global security community, CISA and other hollowed-out institutions and organizations have lost the capability and experience to respond, to monitor and proactively defend. That gaping wound is like a neon welcome sign to adversaries.
The adversaries have been steadily accumulating an arsenal of data for initial access and further compromise, while building out their cybercriminal infrastructure. They learn from our mistakes even when we don’t. They have the keys to the kingdoms – secrets, tokens, source codes, git repos, admin privilege. We’re way past credential theft, but they have all those too. Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters is the alliance of three cybercriminal gangs and evolution of script kiddie angst.
If we try to carry on BAU, then we’ve failed out of the gate. Successive network and security appliance vulnerabilities – Citrix, Fortinet – exploited. Chinese state-sponsored groups embedded for years in telco infrastructure, and prepositioning for attacks on critical infrastructure. A series of software supply chain compromises via NPM. The Salesloft drift breach had massive impact and reach. We’re frantically trying to identify and patch but exposure and exploitation have already ushered in whatever comes next.
With cost-gutting rampant and the misguided belief that advanced shiny tech will do our bidding, it’s time we told the Emperor he has no clothes. Despite all the potential and promises, AI isn’t coming to save us. It’s only as good as the flawed humans who teach it, so that it can then fail faster and bigger. And it should never, ever, be trusted to run without our supervision. “I, Robot” ended badly, remember?
It’s been a minute. I started this blog in 2015 when I was new and all was shiny. I thought it was a great way to capture my learning journey and share information. I’ve kept those original sections in the menu because we still have those issues to deal with now, plus more. Historical context plays an important role when looking at threat actor behaviour or patterns of events. And as we know, history repeats. Yes, we need to look forward and not keep checking the rearview mirror BUT the past can have a powerful hold on us when we don’t learn from our mistakes, or move on too quickly and so I am keeping all that detail here, like time capsules, for future reference.
Our world, our civilization, changed with the pandemic of 2020. It feels like we’ve moved on but we’ll never return to the “before times”. The consequences of decisions made take time to manifest – just because it hasn’t happened doesn’t mean it won’t. Be prepared to reap what has been sown in the AI frenzy, with the massive and devastating cuts to tech and security workforces, compounded by ongoing “unprecedented” disasters and storms driven by climate change, against a highly volatile and violent geopolitical backdrop. Silos exist for grain storage and enterprise bureaucracy – life is messy, lines are blurred, and so much overlaps. Nobody said this would be easy – except maybe that guy who sold us the SIEM.
I leave you with this: Plans + Preparation = Resilience. Think bigger than security. Think about what comes next.
CyberWatch 