Australian technology vendors excel at capability. They build brilliant software, run ambitious projects, and push technology forward with speed and ingenuity. But excellence in capability, cantilevered on good operators, isn’t the same as a strong business foundation.
Policies, cyber security, data protection, and legal compliance don’t always evolve at the same pace as the technology itself. That imbalance creates blind spots. And those blind spots, more than any external attacker, are what compromise reputation and increase exposure.
Blind Spot 1: Outdated Access
Developer accounts left active after an employee departs. Test credentials that never get revoked. Privileged permissions handed out but not wound back. These oversights are rarely malicious — but they provide open doors that compromise reputation and increase exposure.
Blind Spot 2: Customer Data Outside Secure Environments
Moving sensitive data into personal drives, spreadsheets, or unprotected test environments is common when teams are under pressure. But every shortcut like this multiplies risk. Once data escapes controlled systems, it’s almost impossible to manage responsibly.
Blind Spot 3: Policies Written, But Not Lived
Vendors often have policies that look good on paper but don’t match day-to-day behaviour. Staff are focused on delivery, deadlines, and innovation. When policies drift into irrelevance, blind spots form, and those are noticed by regulators, auditors, and customers.
Blind Spot 4: Security Hygiene Delayed for Speed
Patching pushed to the next sprint. Documentation slipped down the backlog. Reviews postponed because resources are tight. These aren’t failures of care, but signs of imbalance between capability and foundation. Left unchecked, small lapses grow into vulnerabilities that compromise reputation and increase exposure.
Blind Spot 5: Foundations Playing Catch-Up to Capability
Software vendors are brilliant at building, but business foundations often lag behind. Cyber security, data governance, and compliance disciplines can feel like friction compared to shipping code. Yet without them, even the best operators end up exposed. True resilience comes when capability and foundations are aligned.
The Value of Paying Attention
Most breaches don’t start with sophisticated attackers. They start with blind spots, small oversights that are easy to miss until the consequences appear.
For technology vendors, trust is currency. Paying attention to blind spots isn’t a distraction from delivery, it’s a value enabler: the foundation that protects reputation, keeps customers confident, and positions capability for long-term growth.
Embedding a culture of security is one of the most effective means of balancing capability with continued credibility. Don’t let a missed review become an ominous sight in your rear-view mirror.