Australia has joined other countries in announcing a ban on the use of TikTok on government devices, with some states and territories following suit. The rationale was based on security fears and, in particular, the risk the platform will be used for foreign interference operations by China. TikTok is a video-sharing platform operated by ByteDance,… Read more »
It’s not news that artificial intelligence (AI) can be biased, and since AI-powered tools are used for almost everything now, including recruiting, there is unconscious bias in hiring processes. ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has launched a new cyber workforce program to address the issue. The Cyber National Assessment Program for Skills and Employment (CYNAPSE)… Read more »
The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) and Telstra have launched a pilot program to see if they can improve protection from phone scams, via an API. They’ve call the Telstra API Scam Indicator. It’s currently at proof-of-concept stage and to be piloted over the next few months. Early simulation results suggest it can help detect and prevent… Read more »
The Australian government’s ambition to “become the most cyber secure nation by 2030” is destined to fail unless customers demand “security certifications” from businesses, according to a leading data security expert. Lisa Byrne, from data strategy firm Notitia, said customers will be the catalyst for businesses to “wake up” to their responsibility to provide effective… Read more »
The driver licence information of a hundred thousand Australians has been stolen after a major consumer finance company was targeted with a “sophisticated and malicious cyber-attack”. Latitude Financial, a major non-bank lender of consumer credit in Australia boasting 2.8 million customer accounts, revealed on Thursday that it had been breached following a significant cyber attack… Read more »
The federal government is pursuing a new cybersecurity agenda in the wake of last year’s major cyber breaches with Optus and Medibank. “For businesses these days, cybersecurity is as important as having a lock on the door”, said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in opening the government’s cybersecurity roundtable in Sydney on Monday. There, Minister for… Read more »
The hacker got credentials from a third-party IT provider. Australian health insurer Medibank made a “rookie mistake” that led to one of the largest data breaches in our country’s history, a cyber security expert has claimed in the wake of new details about the breach. In its half-yearly report, Medibank shared a brief outline of… Read more »
Scroll the news and it won’t take long to find a story about a cyber attack or data breach on yet another unlucky company. With corporate cyber crime on the rise, it’s time for startups to learn from others’ mistakes. You don’t want to think it’ll happen to you, until it does. That’s the message… Read more »
The federal government is further stepping up its efforts to improve Australia’s protection against increasing cyber threats, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday announcing the establishment of a Coordinator for Cyber Security. The aim is to “ensure a centrally coordinated approach” to the government’s cyber security responsibilities. This would include coordinating and “triaging” action… Read more »
The Smith Family, which helps disadvantaged kids succeed through education, is the latest target of cyber hackers in the wake of attacks on Optus, MediBank and other Australian corporates. The national charity believes the primary motive of the attack was an attempt to steal funds, but the hackers were unsuccessful. However, the personal information of… Read more »
The Australian government is launching an offensive against cybercriminals, following a data breach that has exposed millions of people’s personal information. On November 12, Minister for Cyber Security Clare O’Neil announced a taskforce to “hack the hackers” behind the recent Medibank data breach. The taskforce will be a first-of-its-kind permanent, joint collaboration between Australian Federal… Read more »
Businesses are girding corporate communications teams with cyber security specialists as executives watch the cyber security disasters at Optus and Medibank play out in front of their eyes – and consider how they would manage the public fallout from a similar incident. The impact of the recent spate of breaches is evident at the ANZ… Read more »
New details have emerged on the severity of the Medibank hack, which has now affected all users. Optus, Medibank, Woolworths, and, last Friday, electricity provider Energy Australia are all now among the household names that have fallen victim to a data breach. If it seems like barely a week goes by without news of another… Read more »
Medibank has reported a “distressing development” regarding its unfolding cyber incident, as “a series of additional files” received from a criminal party have been found to include detailed Medibank customer data. The health insurance provider first reported “unusual activity” on its network on 13 October – and it was initially believed no customer data had been removed… Read more »
In response to Australia’s biggest ever data breach, the federal government will temporarily suspend regulations that stop telcos sharing customer information with third parties. It’s a necessary step to deal with the threat of identify theft faced by 10 million current and former Optus customers. It will allow Optus to work with banks and government… Read more »
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