Tag: radio

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Talking the eBay data breach on ABC Gold Coast

ABC logoOnline marketplace eBay has suffered a massive data breach. Their official statement outlines what we know so far. This conversation on ABC Gold Coast from earlier this morning was the first of several media spots I’m doing today.

As I explained to presenter Nicole Dyer, if all 150 million or so user records were stolen, this makes it one of the Top 5 biggest data breaches by volume of all time.

eBay users should change their passwords immediately, and if they use the same password anywhere else, they should change the password there too — and invest in password management software so they can start using different random, complex passwords for every online service.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.9MB)

Also worth listening to is Will Ockenden’s report on ABC Radio’s AM this morning. It features security researcher Graham Cluley.

The audio here is of course ©2014 Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

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Talking online theft on 1395 FIVEaa Adelaide

FIVEaa logoTweeting leads to media coverage once more. I wondered aloud why a $50,000 theft from a real estate agency in Broome, Western Australia, had gone unreported when that amount stolen from a physical shop or pub would have been major news.

Here’s part of how it was reported in Real Estate Business Online:

WA Consumer Protection has confirmed the hackers stole $50,000 from a Broome real estate agency after they hacked into the company’s online banking system in February.

Mandy Reed, general manager at Hutchinson Real Estate, told Real Estate Business the cyber fraudsters most likely accessed the company bank account after a compromised email allowed malicious software (or malware) to be installed.

My tweets caught the eye of Will Goodings at radio 1395 FIVEaa Adelaide, and we spoke about it live on Wednesday 7 May. Here’s the full conversation.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.2MB)

The audio is ©2014 dmgRadio Australia.

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Talking mobile app privacy on radio 2MFM

2MFM logoHere’s the final of this week’s media spots that was triggered by Privacy Awareness Week, a chat about the privacy issues relating to mobile apps on Sydney’s Muslim community radio station 2MFM.

This interview was recorded on Tuesday 6 May, and this 23-minute edit was broadcast the same day. The presenter is Nadia Zahr.

2MFM has made the audio available on SoundCloud, but has not allowed for the file to be downloaded, so I’ve just embedded the SoundCloud link immediately below.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/148141679″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true&show_playcount=true&show_comments=true” width=”100%” height=”81″ iframe=”false” /]

The audio is of course ©2014 Muslim Community Radio 92.1 FM.

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Talking internet security on 2SER’s “The Wire”

The Wire logoLast week I recorded an interview on the state of internet security with The Wire, the current affairs program for Australia’s community radio network produced by 2SER in Sydney. It went to air on Monday night, 5 May.

This year has seen some major internet security breaches — from Heartbleed to iOS. But between these headline grabbing flaws there are numerous smaller bugs that pop up every day. As our devices and services become ever more ubiquitous, and flaws continue to popping to, we take a look at internet security.

I spoke with journalist Josh Nicholas for maybe 15 minutes, so this 4-minute edit is very much a condensed version. However we did manage to cover such subtleties as Apple’s secretive approach to security vulnerabilities, Heartbleed, bug bounties, and calls for better disclosure of vulnerabilities — that last link being to a story I wrote this week.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.7MB)

The audio is ©2014 2SER-FM 107.3. It’s also available at The Wire program website — that’s exactly the same as what you can hear here, it’s just that the audio file here has my branding — and you can also listen to the entire episode.

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Talking digital metadata on 3RRR’s Spoke

3555 logoI always enjoy the opportunity to explain some of the subtleties of the politics behind the digital surveillance debate, so I was glad to get the chance to discuss the concept of “metadata” on Melbourne’s 3RRR this week.

This interview with Michelle Bennett on Spoke is from Tuesday 6 May, and we cover much the same ground as in two of my recent pieces for ZDNet Australia, It’s time that ‘metadata’ met an end and Plibersek loses our privacy in a haystack of envelopes, both first published in March.

I was very pleased that the 18-minute conversation wandered through some of the grey areas. It was neither tinfoil-hat “surveillance is bad” nor simplistic “we must fight the terrorists”. Thanks, Michelle.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (12.9MB)

The audio is ©2014 Triple R Broadcasters Ltd. Over at their website you can listen to the full program.

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Talking digital privacy on ABC 891 Adelaide

ABC logoThis is Privacy Awareness Week in Australia, so most of the media I’ve been involved in making is focused on privacy — although of course that’s a common topic for me in any event.

First cab off the rank — or do these days we day “first Uber off the app”? — was ABC 891 Adelaide, a radio station I worked at 1985-91, and which I still have links to.

This quick interview with drive presenter Michael Smyth took place on Monday 5 May 2014.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.3MB)

The audio is of course ©2014 Australian Broadcasting Corporation.