24/10/2026
🔐 As Cyber Security Awareness Month wraps up, we want to encourage everyone to take a second, step back and think about the technology we rely on and how we keep ourselves secure.
Technology has become part of almost everything we do. From banking and shopping to running businesses, storing family memories and keeping in touch with loved ones, we rely on it every day.
But as technology advances at an extraordinary pace, it's worth considering whether our understanding of it, and the protections surrounding it, are keeping up.
Progress has always brought change, and change can make people uncomfortable. Sometimes we resist new technology because it challenges what we're familiar with. Other times, we embrace it so quickly that we barely stop to consider the consequences.
Blindly rejecting progress or blindly accepting it isn't particularly helpful.
And some recent events provide a timely reminder of why this all matters.
🌐 A serious security problem affecting the internet
Just this week, two critical security weaknesses in PHP, a programming language used behind the scenes by a large proportion of websites, prompted emergency security updates.
These weaknesses could potentially allow criminals to interfere with a website's server (the computer that runs the website), access sensitive information or execute malicious commands, sometimes without even needing a password.
The vulnerabilities were privately reported back in August, with artificial intelligence helping researchers uncover ways they could be exploited.
It took approximately 10 weeks before security fixes were publicly released. During that period, information about the vulnerabilities leaked, and evidence of attempted exploitation emerged before the official updates became available.
This highlights an increasingly difficult challenge: we're developing tools like AI that can discover security weaknesses incredibly quickly, but fixing those weaknesses and getting updates installed across the world takes time.
And that brings us to another rapidly developing issue.
🤖 Artificial intelligence: Progress without enough preparation?
AI has enormous potential, from assisting medical research and improving accessibility to helping scientists and engineers make discoveries, and even making everyday tasks easier.
These are meaningful developments, and there's plenty of reason to welcome them.
But progress doesn't automatically mean we're prepared for its consequences.
AI has entered everyday life at remarkable speed. It's being integrated into software, workplaces, search engines and services, often before people have had much opportunity to understand how it works, what information it collects or where its limitations lie.
Meanwhile, governments, regulators and industries are still working out how to manage its risks.
Cybercriminals are already using AI to assist with identifying security weaknesses, creating malicious software and producing increasingly convincing scams.
AI developers have also reported incidents where their own systems bypassed security restrictions and accessed computer systems they weren't supposed to.
And beyond cybersecurity, the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure is placing growing demands on electricity, water, land and computer hardware, raising legitimate questions about environmental impacts, costs, livelihoods and who ultimately benefits.
It's an uncomfortable contradiction. We have technology capable of helping address some of humanity's biggest challenges, while its own expansion creates challenges that shouldn't simply be dismissed as the price of progress.
Being excited about what technology can achieve shouldn't mean ignoring what it costs, or who might be affected along the way.
💻 When a quick answer becomes an expensive problem
There's another consequence of AI's rapid adoption that we're increasingly seeing in everyday technical support.
People understandably assume that a system capable of accessing enormous amounts of information and responding almost instantly should be able to provide the correct answer.
But access to information isn't the same as understanding it.
AI can misunderstand a situation, overlook important details or confidently provide instructions that are completely wrong.
At CPKN Computers, we've encountered situations where people have relied on AI to troubleshoot their technology, only to unintentionally make the original problem worse.
What could have been a five-minute diagnosis by an experienced technician can turn into hours of troubleshooting, unnecessary repairs or additional costs.
An experienced technician doesn't necessarily know the answer to every unfamiliar problem. They rely on understanding how systems work, investigating evidence and recognising when something doesn't make sense.
That's very different from simply following a set of instructions because they sound convincing.
This isn't an argument against using AI, learning new skills or asking questions.
AI can be a valuable tool for exploring ideas, learning and assisting with problems.
But genuinely questioning something also means being prepared to challenge the answer, especially when it confirms what we already believe.
There's a difference between seeking an explanation and searching until we find an answer that supports our assumptions.
And when that answer involves making changes to a computer, handling sensitive information or making business decisions, the consequences of getting it wrong can be substantial.
The goal shouldn't be to stop asking questions. It should be to get better at questioning the answers.
🛡️ What does this mean for Cyber Security Awareness Month?
The message this October is simple: "Take a second. Stay secure."
That message is particularly relevant when technology is moving faster than many of us can reasonably keep up with.
Security isn't just about avoiding suspicious emails or installing antivirus software. It's about understanding what we depend on, recognising where risks exist and making informed decisions about how we use technology.
Keeping software updated, enabling multi-factor authentication, maintaining reliable backups and being cautious with unexpected messages remain essential protections.
But it's also worth considering whether the services we rely on are properly maintained, what personal or business information we're sharing with AI tools, and whether the advice we're following has actually been verified.
For home users, it means developing the confidence to question unfamiliar technology without feeling pressured to either embrace everything new or reject it altogether.
For businesses, it means exploring how technology can support employees, improve everyday processes and make work more efficient, while ensuring decisions about security, customer information and important operations remain informed and accountable.
We shouldn't have to choose between technological progress and responsible development. Both matter.
Cybersecurity isn't about fearing the future. It's about making sure we're prepared for it.
At CPKN Computers, we believe technology should work for people, and that understanding, experience and sensible precautions remain just as important as the technology itself.
CPKN Computers | Canberra & Parkes/Forbes
