Episode 383 Deep Dive: Sarah Sloan | It Still Runs, But Can You Defend It? The End-of-Life Tech Reckoning

The tech running hospitals, power grids and government services often still works. Sarah Sloan, Cisco’s Head of Cybersecurity Policy for APAC, joins KB to explain why that’s the problem, not the reassurance it sounds like.

Drawing on a new ASPI report Cisco funded, “Past its use-by-date,” they get into why so much end-of-life tech is still in place (usually budgets and skills, not negligence), how AI and quantum turned a slow-burn risk into an urgent one, and why most organisations still can’t see the ageing gear in their own environment. Plus the upside: why moving early beats being forced by an incident.

About Sarah: Sarah Sloan is Head of Cybersecurity Policy APAC, Cisco where she leads public sector engagement on cybersecurity policy matters across the region. With over 15 years’ experience across government, industry, and consulting — including more than a decade focused on cyber and technology — Sarah has held senior roles in the Australian Government and leading global technology firms, driving policy development, public-private sector partnerships, and national cybersecurity priorities. She holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and Bachelor of Asia-Pacific Studies from the Australian National University (ANU), and postgraduate qualifications in legal practice, international law, and Japanese studies. Sarah is also Chair of the Australian Industry Information Association’s (AIIA) National Security and Cyber Resilience Policy Advisory Network.

Keywords: end-of-life technology, legacy systems, critical infrastructure, cybersecurity governance, ASPI, Cisco, Legacy Five, board risk, post-quantum cryptography, AI cyber threats, SOCI Act, technology lifecycle, cost of downtime, CISO, digital resilience