By Bill Gates

We have to find a way to make the aspects of capitalism that serve wealthier people serve poorer people as well.

Thirty years, twenty years, ten years ago, my focus was totally on how the magic of software could change the world. I believed that breakthroughs in technology could solve key problems. And they do, increasingly, for billions of people. But breakthroughs change lives primarily where people can afford to buy them, only where there is economic demand, and economic demand is not the same as economic need.

There are billions of people who need the great inventions of the computer age, and many more basic needs as well, but they have no way of expressing their needs in ways that matter to the market, so they go without.

If we are going to have a chance of changing their lives, we will need another level of innovation. Not just technology innovation, we need system innovation.

As Web 2.0 technologies and the threat landscape continue to evolve, it's now more important than ever that both private and public sectors join forces.

Last week, I participated in the Over the Horizon Visionary forum which was held as part of National E-security Awareness Week. The forum was attended by a number of industry representatives from across Australia and aimed to promote discussion on the government's future e-security policies. One of the discussion groups at the forum focused on how the public and private sectors can partner to better educate the public on safe Internet practices.

Many in the group, including myself, agree that there needs to be a working partnership between the public and private sector to educate and equip Australian PC users.  By working in collaboration and building a strategy around education, the public and private sector can help make the Internet a positive and safe place to learn, communicate, and socialise.  

By Dr Martyn Wild

Our kids might understand and recite the safety messages we tell them, but this rarely has much impact on their everyday behaviours.

The cybersafety discussion is more important today than it has ever been. Not simply because of the scare stories that are emerging with ever-increasing frequency (only last Thursday [5 June] we witnessed large numbers of Australians, including at least one teacher and a police officer, identified in the worst type of child exploitation). But more so because, (i) children are changing their use of the Internet; and (ii) their parents are evidently not taking responsibility for the implications that arise from that use.

New data arising from studies very recently conducted in the UK and Australia tell us that 57% of parents are not aware how to keep their children safe online, what actions to take to minimise potential adverse impacts on their children's well-being or even what to do at times of crisis.  

By Mark McPherson

If little Jimmy comes home from school and asks you to scan the home computer for trojans, listen to what he's talking about - chances are he knows more than you do.

This week we'll be working with kids from about half a dozen schools in Brisbane and taking them through a series of workshops at a purpose-built training facility at the University of Queensland.

We're going to break them up into mixed groups where they'll work with their  teachers to solve real problems faced every day by home computer users.

The challenge for us at AusCERT is that many of the attacks these days are carried out from computers in average homes, in average suburbs, often without the knowledge of the computer owners, so we're hoping to enlist average Australian kids in the struggle against cybercrime.