I’ve always found mentors to be truly remarkable people who not only make light work of venturing outside societal and technical norms but who go out on a limb to help those who ask. Their advice has often helped me to successfully navigate corporate politics, avoid technical minefields and, on occasion, convinced me to restructure my thinking, expectations and attitudes.

It’s not every day that you get to play the role of the chief information officer (CIO) of a Fortune 100 company.  However, in light of recent high-profile cybersecurity breaches, let’s imagine for a moment that you are a CIO who is busy preparing to deliver a rather sobering cybersecurity briefing. This is the first of […]

Another year, another country — Ireland this time.  Don’t panic, I’m still freelancing with Huawei’s European Research Center, but I’ve decided to take on a new project straddling Cyber Security projects in Dublin and Shenzhen.  To be sure, landing in a place without any prior exposure brought with it a flood of new experiences and excitement.  And unlike in […]

Last year I updated my PGP public encryption key to 4096 bits since it now looks as though it may be possible to crack a 1024 bit key within my lifetime.  Not that I have many secretes, but those that I do, I intend to keep out of prying eyes.  And unless quantum computers start to enter […]

Modern organizations have tried to increase the collaborative effort by creating centers of expertise, regional hubs and invested heavily in collaborative technologies. However, despite all the investment, invariably they fall short of the mark because open-plan office design has shown that it is negatively related to workers’ satisfaction with their physical environment and perceived productivity […]

After many years of work with clients across Africa and the Middle East I decided to join a large research organization, more specifically, Huawei’s European Research Center (ERC) headquartered in Munich. I figured that researching security and digging deeper into the cloud would not only give me a chance to put my field experience to […]

This is a collection of the lessons I’ve learnt as a result of being in various relationships throughout my life. The original list was released as a daily installment on social media some time back, but I’ve decided to include them here in bulk for general consumption. I’ve learnt I’m patient beyond what I previously […]

A few years back I lent some money to a friend who happened to be going through a rough patch in life. I had some spare cash and I saw this as a simple case of them needing it more than I did. I was happy to lend a helping hand to someone who had […]

I’m a great supporter of the Schengen Agreement, but what I witnessed this week upon my return to Malta from France would send convulsive chills down the back of any EU immigration officer. Yes, Malta Airport gave a real proper bitch slap to all Schengen countries — I really wish there was a nicer way […]

Forty (40) eh. I must admit, if someone told me what I would get up to or the places I’d visit during my short life, I’d have said: no way Jose. The last forty years have been a journey that’s seen me walking with a big smile on my face, not all the time, but […]