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Weekly Wrap 386: The tides are always with us

22 October 2017 in Weekly Wrap by Stilgherrian | No comments

Ulex europaeusAfter every up, there is a down. That’s how waves work. That’s how tides work. That’s how rollercoasters work. My week of Monday 16 to Sunday 22 October 2017 was less hectic than last week.

Some important background tasks were accomplished, but this is all that was visible to the world.

Media Appearances

Articles, Podcasts, Corporate Largesse

None, but coming up…

The Week Ahead

Monday will be a jumbled day of geekery, editorial planning, story pitches, administrivia, and maybe even errands.

The next episode of The 9pm Edict podcast will be recorded on Tuesday 24 October at 2100 AEST. As has become traditional, it will be streamed live via stilgherrian.com/edict/live/. You still have time to support this podcast with a one-off contribution.

I’ll also be announcing a new crowdfunding campaign on Pozible. It’s been more than a year since my last concentrated ask-for-money burst, and the gods know my budget needs it. Stay tuned for details.

On Wednesday, I’ll be recording an interview for the next episode of the Covert Contact podcast. If you haven’t done so, you can listen to my first appearance, the episode about Australian Cyber Policy.

As is so often the case, the rest of the week is unplanned, including the weekend.

Further Ahead

At this stage, I haven’t locked in anything specific for the rest of the calendar year. Please feel free to make some suggestions.

[Photo: Ulex europaeus. A pretty but invasive gorse species (Ulex europaeus) phototographed at Bunjaree Cottages in the Blue Mountains. It’s looking a little the worse for wear after the recent rains. Photographed on 22 October 2017.]

Weekly Wrap 370: One and a half launches and climbing

02 July 2017 in Weekly Wrap by Stilgherrian | Permalink

Taking off for new adventuresMy week of Monday 26 June to Sunday 2 July 2017 was strangely quiet, but also strangely productive. It’s a fine start for the new financial year.

I’m even fixing my broken time-management systems, and that’s just one of the reasons I finally feel like I’m climbing out of a low patch.

Articles

I wrote a second piece for ZDNet, which will be posted on Monday.

Media Appearances

On Tuesday night Australian time, the ransomware known variously as Petya or NotPetya amongst other things, spread across the planet. Inevitably, I ended up talking about it in the media on Wednesday. I did radio spots on 3AW Melbourne, ABC Brisbane (where I also spoke briefly about the €2.4 billion fine copped by Google), ABC Melbourne, and various ABC News reports. I also appeared on Channel TEN’s The Project.

And on Friday evening, I spoke about Australia’s new cyber warfare unit (briefly) and other matters with Peter Goers on ABC Adelaide.

Podcasts, Corporate Largesse

None. Read the rest of this entry »

Talking end-to-end encryption on ABC RN Breakfast

13 June 2017 in Conversations, Defence, Internet, Media, Politics by Stilgherrian | Permalink

ABC logoAustralia is opening a new campaign in the seemingly never-ending Cyptowars. This time, the target is end-to-end encryption.

Our favourite attorney-general, Senator George Brandis QC, wants “the cooperation of companies like Apple and Facebook and Google and so on” to help the government break into encrypted communications. That cooperation would presumably extend to messaging apps that use end-to-end encryption, such as WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, and so on.

And cooperation would be ensured, thanks to new legal sanctions.

Brandis says he’s not interested in putting mandatory “back door” access into the encryption used by messaging platforms. But how can that be true when he’s asking for the tech companies to be able to provide access to customers’ encrypted messages? That’s exactly what a back door is.

Anyway, this morning I was interviewed on this topic by Fran Kelly on the ABC’s RN Breakfast. We spoke for more than seven minutes.

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:29 — 6.9MB)

The audio is ©2017 Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is being served directly from the ABC website.

For more analysis, try George Brandis’s salvo in cryptowars could blow a hole in architecture of the internet, by the Guardian’s Paul Farrell.

Weekly Wrap 361: The last pause, I hope

01 May 2017 in Weekly Wrap by Stilgherrian | Permalink

Approaching SingaporeThis Weekly Wrap covers two weeks, Monday 17 to Sunday 30 April 2017, because little happened during this time apart from the continuing throat infection, and grumpiness, and a day off for Anzac Day.

Here’s a list, and a completely unrelated photo.

Articles

Podcasts

None, but I’ll be announcing the next date for The 9pm Edict very soon.

Media Appearances

Corporate Largesse

  • On Thursday 20 April, I covered the launch of Australia’s Cyber Security Sector Competitiveness Plan at the Museum of Contemporary Art, and a lovely buffet breakfast was served. This is what generated the article listed above.

The Week Ahead

Monday will be a day of catching up on work and household loose ends as I finally kill this throat infection. And writing this.

On Tuesday, I’m working on the SEKRIT editorial project, then catching a train down to Sydney for The Double Disillusionists podcast recording at Giant Dwarf that evening. I’ll stay in Sydney overnight.

On Wednesday morning, I’ll be covering the half-day conference Cyber Security — the Leadership Imperative 2017, which I daresay I’ll write about before returning to Wentworth Falls.

Thursday through Sunday are as yet unplanned, but I know there’s lots of writing and editing to catch up on. What the daily plans emerge on Twitter.

Further Ahead

I’m covering the AusCERT Information Security Conference on the Gold Coast from 24 to 26 May; the 5th International Conference on Cybercrime and Computer Forensics (ICCCF) on the Gold Coast from 16 to 18 July, or at least I hope; and the national conference of the Australian Information Security Association (AISA) in Sydney on 10 to 12 October.

Update 17 May 2016: Edited to reflect schedule changes.

[Photo: Approaching Singapore, photographed on 6 March 2017 when I was en route from Ho Chi Minh City back to Sydney.]

Talking Victorian MP website hack on ABC Radio Melbourne

11 January 2017 in Conversations by Stilgherrian | Permalink

Screenshot of Tunisian Fallage Team defacementABC logo“Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas’ website hacked by Tunisian Islamists” was the headline on the Herald Sun story today. Yes, the Tunisian Fallage Team had taken credit for the defacement.

This afternoon I put this into context with presenter Warwick Long on ABC Radio Melbourne, formerly ABC 774 Melbourne.

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:14 — 2.9MB)

The audio is ©2017 Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Talking civil use of metadata on ABC 105.7 Darwin

23 December 2016 in Conversations, Internet, Media, Politics, Privacy by Stilgherrian | Permalink

ABC logoWhen mandatory telecommunications data retention legislation was first introduced — the so-called “metadata” retention laws — Australia’s favourite Attorney-General Senator George Brandis QC stressed that it wouldn’t be used for civil proceedings. Guess what just happened?

On Tuesday, Brandis’ office announced a review of the laws to see whether retained metadata could be used — wait for it — in civil proceedings.

On Wednesday I wrote about this in a ZDNet column titled Brandis rushes to release telco metadata for civil proceedings.

And on Wednesday afternoon I spoke about it with Kate O’Toole on ABC 105.7 Darwin. Here’s that conversation.

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 6:53 — 4.2MB)

This audio is ©2016 Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Talking the Yahoo data breach on ABC The World Today

17 December 2016 in Conversations, Internet, Media, Privacy by Stilgherrian | Permalink

ABC logo“The internet company Yahoo has revealed it has been hacked again, this time losing a billion user accounts,” began ABC Radio’s The World Today report on Thursday.

Guess which muppet was interviewed by journalist Will Ockenden? Yeah, me.

Here’s the full four-minute story.

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:00 — 1.8MB)

The audio is ©2016 Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is being served directly from the ABC website.

Talking Twitter and Vine on ABC Radio’s AM

05 November 2016 in Conversations, Internet, Media by Stilgherrian | Permalink

ABC logoSo Twitter is closing down Vine, the app that shares six-second videos. I’m not surprised. I always thought Vine was a gimmick.

On 28 October I gave my feelpinions to ABC Radio journalist Brendan Trembath, and they ended up in a 3-minute story for AM. There’s also a written story, Vine video sharing app killed off in latest sign of troubled times for Twitter.

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:39 — 1.2MB)

The audio is ©2016 Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is being served directly from the ABC website.

Talking medical device hacks on ABC The World Today

05 November 2016 in Conversations, Internet, Media by Stilgherrian | Permalink

ABC logoWhenever there’s news of a medical device being hacked, it gets a lot of attention — and rightly so. So when cardiac devices made by St Jude Medical got some attention, I did a radio spot.

ABC Radio journalist Lindy Kerin recorded a brief interview with me on 25 October, and fragments were used in this 5-minute story from The World Today, and in a separate written story, Cyber security experts claim St. Jude cardiac implants vulnerable to life-threatening hacks.

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:55 — 2.2MB)

The audio is ©2016 Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is being served directly from the ABC website.

Talking the death of voicemail on ABC 1233 Newcastle

02 October 2016 in Conversations, Internet, Media by Stilgherrian | Permalink

ABC logoOn Thursday, Mornings on ABC 1233 Newcastle noticed that some big businesses in the US had turned off voicemail, using text messaging instead. They also noted that many people had stopped using voicemail personally too.

That led to a conversation on the radio with Rosemarie Milsom, and here’s a recording.

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:42 — 6.9MB)

The audio is ©2016 Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

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