radio – Page 22 – Stilgherrian

30 November 201401 December 2014

Talking Regin spyware on ABC The World Today

ABC logo Comment on current affairs programs happens in the most random ways. Last Tuesday I did a quick comment on the newly-revealed Regin spyware from a park bench in Sydney — a quick break while dashing between Wynward railway station and lunch.

Now at the time of doing this piece for ABC Radio’s The World Today, I’d read the report in The Intercept, and a couple of mainstream news stories that had bounced off that, but I hadn’t read either of the white papers from Symantec (PDF) or Kaspersky Lab (PDF).

For an initial comment on mainstream radio that was probably enough of an orientation, but with the benefit of hindsight a few days later, well, I might have put things slightly differently.

The journalist is Liv Casben.

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21 November 201421 November 2014

Talking exposed webcams on 1395 FIVEaa

Australian news outlets ran stories today about a Russian website that shows live video cameras that haven’t been properly protected, and I ended up talking about it with Will Goodings on Adelaide radio 1395 FIVEaa.

I disagreed with the Fairfax story, which called the Russian site “Online IP net surveillance cameras of the world” the result of “hacking”. For me, hacking implies some sort of technical trick. But I did point out that unprotected devices on the internet are not new. The Shodan search engine shows all manner of exposed devices.

The audio includes a subsequent guest on the program, Con Kosmidis from Alpha Security Systems, who amplified some of my points, and a small rant from Mr Goodings.

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19 November 201419 November 2014

Talking Netflix for Australia on ABC 891 Adelaide

ABC logo Today the US-based video streaming service announced that will launch in Australia in March 2015. I spoke about the implications earlier this evening on ABC 891 Adelaide.

While Netflix already has 200,000-odd customers in Australia, using various methods to get around the geoblocking. Will they move across when the Australian service, given that the selection won’t be the same? Will Australia’s broadband cope?

The presenter is Michael Smyth.

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25 October 201425 October 2014

Talking Gamergate and more on ABC Download This Show

Stilgherrian on Download This Show

ABC logo I’d originally intended to avoid the clusterfuck in a teacup that is the Gamergate controversy, but I was persuaded to talk about it on this week’s Download This Show on ABC Radio National, along with seemingly now regular parter in crime and CNet news editor Claire Reilly.

GamerGate: death threats, sexism, misinformation and one of the biggest storms of opinion on the internet in a very long time. Plus we’re about to become flooded with Smartwatch devices but why do they mostly need to tethered to a mobile phone? Why can’t you just replace a phone with a watch? And it’s an international agreement being negotiated in secret which could have a huge impact on our digital life. We unpick the recent leaks from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement negotiations.

One of the better summaries of Gamergate is Kyle Wagner’s The Future Of The Culture Wars Is Here, And It’s Gamergate, although I’m rather fond of the polemic Why #Gamergaters Piss Me The F*** Off by long-time gamer and former NFL player Chris Kluwe.

As the blurb says, we also spoke about a new smart device called the Rufus Cuff, and developments in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations.

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As usual, one of the segments was also made into a video — the one on TPP — and that’s over the fold, immediately below.

Continue reading “Talking Gamergate and more on ABC Download This Show”

25 October 2014

Talking Telstra wholesale pricing on 1395 FIVEaa

Telstra is Australia’s biggest telco, and owner of the vast majority of the copper customer access network (CAN), the so called “last mile” — and it wants to raise its wholesale prices, charging other telcos 7.2% more.

“The move would affect almost every Australian with a phone line or an internet connection, because Telstra owns most of the copper phone lines that other telcos depend on to service their customers,” reported ABC News.

“The company leases about 4 million line services to rivals and has not raised wholesale prices since 2011.”

On Wednesday I spoke about the distinction between retail and wholesale telecommunications providers, and whether a 7.2% rise is reasonable, with Will Goodings on 1395 FIVEaa — after independent Senator Nick Xenophon has given his views.

Xenophon thought the rise was unreasonable, because Telstra had “gotten $11 billion” from NBN Co. I disagreed on both counts.

For reference, here’s the current Telstra Wholesale rate card (PDF).

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18 October 2014

Talking voiceprint biometrics on 1395 FIVEaa

“Two of America’s biggest retail banks — JPMorgan Chase & Co, and Wells Fargo & Co — are quietly recording the biometric details of some callers’ voices to weed out fraud,” reported Associated Press this week. The news caught the eye of Will Goodings at 1395 FIVEaa in Adelaide. I told him that the Americans are way behind Australia on this one.

All of the Big Four banks here are already using voiceprints. In the case of NAB and Westpac, since about 2009.

In fact, Australia is a world leader in voiceprint technology. In a Patch Monday podcast from March 2012, I spoke with Dr Clive Summerfield, chief executive of Auraya, who told me that Australia’s social services agency Centrelink has been using voiceprints to identify callers since 2005, and more than 95% of callers are identified this way. Voiceprints are also used by the Australian Taxation Office.

Here’s a recording of the conversation we had on air on Friday afternoon, complete with a talkback caller who followed me.

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