My week of Monday 25 February to Sunday 3 March 2019 was moderately produtive, despite the “joys” of starting to adjust me medications to improve my sleep patterns. There were cybers, too.
Weekly Wrap 457: Neuropharmacology and two kinds of cybers
Weekly Wrap 454: Gently sliding back into work
My fortnight of Monday 28 January to Sunday 10 February 2019 was a mixed bag. The hot weather knocked me around a bit, and so did the lack of news, but hey these things happen sometimes.
Continue reading “Weekly Wrap 454: Gently sliding back into work”Weekly Wrap 447: It’s still way too busy as Christmas looms
My week of Monday 19 to Sunday 23 December 2018 was surprisingly busy. Instead of winding down as it approached Christmas, it wound back up with new things happening.
Continue reading “Weekly Wrap 447: It’s still way too busy as Christmas looms”Weekly Wrap 412: Cyber in Canberra, then SEKRIT things
I was a busy possum during the two weeks from Monday 9 to Sunday 22 April 2018. The first week was spent in Canberra covering some cyber events, and the second was spent writing, and working on the SEKRIT editorial project which I’ll tell you a tiny amount about… now!
I’m the series editor on a project for Crikey, one that they’ve crowdfunded via a Pozible project called Crikey Digs. Some of you may have seen me tweet that part of it is about businesses that misuse Australians’ personal data, or trade it in a dodgy way. More will be revealed in the coming week.
Meanwhile, all these things…
Articles
- Cyber Dam Busters could give Australia’s military an asymmetric edge, ZDNet Australia, 10 April 2018.
- ASD to review Australia’s cybersecurity and ‘drive out known problems’, ZDNet Australia, 11 April 2018.
- Technical solutions won’t stop the real threats to elections, ZDNet Australia, 12 April 2018.
- Blaming Russia for NotPetya was coordinated diplomatic action, ZDNet Australia, 12 April 2018.
- Caught short by NotPetya, Australia to establish 24/7 ‘cyber newsroom’, ZDNet Australia, 13 April 2018.
- It’s time for cyber weather and traffic bulletins, ZDNet Australia, 13 April 2018.
- Cyber fraudsters now stealing millions in single transactions, ZDNet Australia, 19 April 2018.
Media Appearances
- On Wednesday 11 April, I spoke about aspects of the ongoing Facebook story on ABC Adelaide.
- On Friday 13 April, I spoke about the risks of using dodgy VPN providers on ABC Sydney.
- One of my tweets was quoted in the Junkee story The Daily Mail Has Fired A Reporter For Calling A ‘Bachelor’ Contestant A “Vapid C*nt”
- On Thursday 19 April, I spoke about the idea of cyber weather bulletins on ABC Perth.
I’ve fallen out of the habit of posting the audio from my radio spots. Would you like me to return to that habit?
Podcasts
None. However see below for a bit of a plan.
Corporate Largesse
- There was plenty of food and drink at the ACSC Conference in Canberra, though I skipped most of the functions.
The Week Ahead
The next few weeks see me based in Ashfield, Sydney, working through the SEKRIT editorial project, and writing for ZDNet much as usual. I’m hoping to get some walking in, however, and I might post some stuff about the places I visit, including photos.
On Tuesday night I’m doing a radio spot for ABC Melbourne, some time between 1900 and 2200 AEST. We haven’t locked in the time yet.
Wednesday is Anzac Day. It’s a public holiday, so I may take it easy. But I also might get up early for the Dawn Service. Undecided.
Further Ahead
The next episode of The 9pm Edict, will be recorded and streamed live on Tuesday 8 May at 2100 AEST.
Other things I’ve pencilled in:
- AusCERT Cyber Security Conference, Gold Coast, 30 May to 1 June.
- The 9pm Edict Public House Forum 7, Brisbane, Saturday 2 June. (TBC)
- Building Australia’s Strategy for Space, Canberra, 13–15 June.
- SINET 61, Melbourne, 31 July – 1 August. (TBC)
- D61+ LIVE, Brisbane, 18–19 September. (TBC)
- Australian Cyber Conference, formerly the Australian Information Security Association (AISA) National Conference, Melbourne, 9–11 October.
[Photo: Parliament House, Canberra, photographed on 13 April 2018.]
Weekly Wrap 385: Fog, a hack, and a mystery happy fun time
The week of Monday 9 to Sunday 15 October 2017 was quite productive, as you’ll see. Read on!
Articles
The first of these articles is the final one related to the launch by foreign minister Julie Bishop of Australia’s first International Cyber Engagement Strategy. See last week’s wrap for the first two.
- Cyber attribution isn’t so important, even for nation states, ZDNet Australia, 9 October 2017.
On Tuesday, the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) released its 2017 Threat Report. The next day, at the national conference of the Australian Information Security Association (AISA), an Australian Defence Signals (ASD) officer told us more about an incident in that ACSC report.
- ACSC Threat Report highlights deplorable ignorance, ZDNet Australia, 10 October 2017. The ignorance of the media and politicians, that is.
- Secret F-35, P-8, C-130 data stolen in Australian defence contractor hack, ZDNet Australia, 11 October 2017. This is the story that exploded, introducing the world to APT ALF, and Alf’s Mystery Happy Fun Time.
- Blaming government for defence contractor’s lax cybersecurity ‘a stretch’: Pyne, ZDNet Australia, 12 October 2017. If you read this column, you’ll see that I disagree with Minister Pyne’ view.
Podcasts
None by me, but…
Media Appearances
- I was the guest on this week’s Covert Contact podcast, the episode titled Australian Cyber Policy.
Then the world decided to follow up my story on that Australian defence industry data breach.
It began in Australia and expanded from there, with stories in the Sydney Morning Herald (in the front page!); The Australian; ABC News; the Guardian; News.com.au; BuzzFeed; The Express in the UK; Voice of America; RT; Arab Times in Kuwait; via AAP to outlets including Sky News Australia; and via Reuters to others. If I tried to find them all, and link to them all, I’d be here all night.
I saw versions of the story in Chinese, Vietnamese, Greek, Indonesian. There were doubtless others. They’re just the ones I happened to see.
To quote ZDNet security editor Zack Whittaker in New York, it ran everywhere — and to be honest, that surprised me. I’ve covered cybersecurity, as we call it now, for a few years. This is a pretty ordinary event. It just happened to combine “mystery hacker”, with the controversial F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, with the authority of an ASD officer.
On Thursday, I did media appearances on ABC News24; ABC Radio’s The World Today; ABC TV’s 7.30; and Channel Ten’s The Project. On Friday, I appeared on BBC World’s Newsday.
I can’t possible list all of the follow-ups, but here’s a few that I’d like to mention:
- Oz military megahack: When crappy defence contractor cybersecurity ‘isn’t uncommon’, surely alarm bells ring?, by Richard Chirgwin at The Register.
- Australian defense firm was hacked and F-35 data stolen, DOD confirms, by Sean Gallagher at Ars Technica, confirming the breach from the American end of the supply chain.
- ASD disclosure is a good thing, by James Riley at InnovationAus.com. It’s a point I agree with.
The story also morphed as it was re-reported, sometimes drastically changing the meaning of the event. One publication, which I won’t name, even reported that the ASD had been hacked, at least until I contacted them. I hope to find the time to write up that evolution, but for now here’s a few tweets.
Corporate Largesse
- On Wednesday, there was food and drink at the AISA National Conference, which was held at the Hyatt Regency Sydney. Hivint offered a beer. I accepted. It was nice. Telstra gave me a t-shirt.
The Week Ahead, and Further Ahead
I’ll play it by ear. At this stage, there’s nothing special through to the end of the year, so now is your chance to fix that.
[Photo: Mountain Life, with Fog, The entry road to the Carrington Hotel, Katoomba, photographed through the evening fog on 10 October 2017.]