Tag: cybercrime

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Weekly Wrap 151: Anzac, alcohol and little yellow birds

Eastern Yellow Robin, again; click to embiggenMy week Monday 22 to Sunday 28 April 2013 was interesting, to say the least. And psychologically exhausting.

That’s part of the reason I’m only getting around to posting this today. Another part is that I simply couldn’t be arsed. But here it is.

I didn’t write anything about Anzac Day, because I’ve written it all before in Anzac Day Rememberings and Anzac Day 2009: Sacrifice. Instead, I had a relaxing holiday — that turned out to be a tad too indulgent, but then I do have a working liver. For now.

The next day, Friday, I received some unexpected good news that has the potential to Change Everything. Well, maybe not everything, but it certainly changes one of the fundamental assumptions that had framed my thinking about my life for the next year. All the thoughts this stirred caused the psychological exhaustion — and there’s still plenty more to think through. No, I can’t tell you what it is.

Articles

Media Appearances

Corporate Largesse

None.

The Week Ahead

Well, Monday and Tuesday have already happened. Ho hum. Tomorrow, Wednesday, I’m taking an early train to Sydney to record Marc Fennell’s Download This Show at 1000, and then there’s a lunchtime briefing. On Thursday there’s the Optus Vision 2013 event. Whether I stay in Sydney overnight between the two remains to be seen. Friday onwards is unplanned.

[Photo: Eastern Yellow Robin, again, one of the fast-moving Eopsaltria australis photographed at Bunjaree Cottages near Wentworth Falls, 100km west of Sydney.]

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Talking Twitter and LulzSec on ABC Local Radio

ABC logoOn Wednesday night I ended up having a long, rambling chat on the radio about Twitter’s new advertising deal and the arrest of an alleged hacker who apparently claimed to be the leader of LulzSec.

This conversation was broadcast on ABC Local Radio around NSW, the presenter was the redoubtable Dom Knight. We begin with Twitter, and then move on to the alleged-hacker’s arrest at around 12 minutes 50 seconds in.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (10.4MB)

The audio is of course ©2013 Australian Broadcasting Corporation, archived here because it isn’t being archived anywhere else.

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Weekly Wrap 144: In the forest, trolled by rosellas

Crimson rosellas at Bunjaree Cottages: click to embiggenIn retrospect, and posting one day late, the week of Monday 4 to Sunday 10 March 2013 was remarkably unproductive — mostly thanks to a continuing minor illness.

So the photograph of the crimson rosellas is apt. I spent much of my time hanging around Bunjaree Cottages. The rosellas figured that out very quickly — as they usually do — and were turning up each morning to demand food. I’m a soft touch.

Articles

Both of the articles I wrote this week were representatives of my column The Full Tilt for ZDNet. It’s scheduled to run every Thursday, but since I didn’t write one last week I had one on Monday as well.

  • Beware! Anonymous has become the Hello Kitty of hacktivism, ZDNet Australia, 4 March 2013. The reaction of some Anonymous fans was interesting, because they couldn’t see beyond “You said something bad about Anonymous” and responded with unfocused personal attacks rather than addressing the issues. I’m hoping to find time to write about that this week.
  • Will you stop with all your ‘cybering’ already?, ZDNet Australia, 7 March 2013. “When someone starts warning you of ‘cyberthreats’, check your wallet and keys. You’re probably about to be conned,” it begins.

Podcasts

Still none.

Media Appearances

None of these either.

Corporate Largesse

And none of these either. I told you it was an unproductive week.

The Week Ahead

Well this week is going to be somewhat more productive. He says boldly. Today, Monday, will be a gentle start to it all, but I hope to knock off some analysis for Technology Spectator and lock in some planning — because everything keeps damn well changing.

On Tuesday I’m heading to Sydney for a media briefing by Trend Micro, followed by lunch, and probably writing up same. I’ll stay overnight because LG is launching their new smartphone, the Optimus G, on Wednesday morning and I’m curious to see how they’re going to pitch it in the face of such stiff competition from Samsung.

I’m heading to Sydney on Thursday morning too, mostly to get the results of some blood tests taken on the weekend and deal with whatever medical matters may ensue, but I plan to stay in Sydney until Saturday for a variety of work-related reasons. Probably.

[Photo: Yesterday’s visitors, photographed on 4 March 2013. A pair of crimson rosellas at Bunjaree Cottages.]

[Update 23 March 2013: Edited photo description to correct the date.]

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Talking cybersecurity bollocks on ABC Radio’s “AM”

ABC logoFollowing the announcement of a new Australian Cyber Security Centre, to be built by the end of 2013, I ended up being interviewed by ABC Radio’s AM program on 24 January — but it didn’t turn out so flash.

Journalist Peter Lloyd asked me about cybersecurity threats. I think I mentioned that at one end of the spectrum there’s serious nation-state espionage and sabotage, but at the other there’s all manner of low-end crime that probably doesn’t warrant a national centre — and I used ransomware as an example of that.

But in the finished story, somehow that example became the defining crime. Oops.

PETER LLOYD: So far cyber crime in Australia has largely been a new form of stand-over tactic. The online commentator and writer, Stilgherrian:

STILGHERRIAN: We’ve got the low level cyber crime operatives who are just trying to hack into small businesses, encrypt all their data, hold them to ransom. We’ve seen cases of that with victims in Alice Springs and the Gold Coast and elsewhere in Australia, that a business finds that all the data on their computer is unavailable until they send money of some thousands of dollars to have it unlocked for them.

Anyway, for posterity, here’s the audio of the piece.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.1MB)

The audio is ©2013 Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

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Consilium: Social media is destroying society? Good!

Last month I took part in a fascinating discussion about the impact of social media and related breakthroughs at Consilium [PDF], an invitation-only annual conference put together by the Centre for Independent Studies. Here’s part of what I said.

The panel was called “Social Creatures: How social media is changing the landscape”. I joined Iarla Flynn, Google Australia’s head of public policy and government affairs; Nick Holder, a partner at LEK Consulting; and Cassandra Wilkinson, co-founder and president of FBi Radio, and author of Don’t Panic! Nearly Everything is Better than You Think.

The full blurb and a scheduled duration of 1 hour 45 minutes gave us plenty of scope for discussion and, as became clear once we were under way, for this particular audience much of what we were saying was new.

Consilium was held under a modified Chatham House Rule, which means I can’t bring you the whole discussion. But I did record my opening remarks and my summary, and I have permission from those I namechecked to mention their names — except for one that’s redacted.

Somehow I managed to use the phrase “arse end of the bell curve” and mention Prince Harry’s pubic hair. It’s a gift.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:41 — 11.6MB)

The full transcript is over the jump. Audio and text ©2012 Stilgherrian.

Continue reading “Consilium: Social media is destroying society? Good!”

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Talking malware and stuff on Balls Radio, FM 99.3

Here’s last night’s regular spot on Phil Dobbie’s Balls Radio from FM 99.3 Northside Radio in Sydney.

I waffled on disjointedly about stuff that was on my mind after this week’s Patch Monday podcast — that is, how midway through 2012 it looks like all this talk of cyberwar is rubbish — and something about dental floss.

Here’s the audio of my segment. If you’d like more, Mr Dobbie has posted the full episode.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:34 — 4.6MB)

I’m fairly sure that copyright remains with Mr Dobbie rather than being transferred to Northside Radio, but I’ll figure that out later.