The ACSC could regulate Australian cybersecurity

The government should move beyond awareness campaigns and advisory guidance toward a mature regulatory model that treats cybersecurity as a matter of public safety and national resilience and empowering the ACSC as a cybersecurity regulator would be a significant step towards achieving this.

Spyware as a tool of coercive control

Spyware, once primarily used by intelligence agencies and nation-states, has become a tool of intimate partner abuse, quietly deployed against people – mostly women – who have no idea they are being watched.

Your kid’s been hacked

We tell our children to stay safe online, but hackers just stole vast amounts of data from every student at 9,000 schools and universities around the world, including Sydney and Melbourne universities in Australia, by penetrating a commonly used platform for online learning.

Your money or your digital life

When evolutionary biologist Joseph Popp coded the first documented piece of ransomware in 1989, he had little idea it would become a major criminal business model capable of bringing economies to their knees.

Looking through glasswing

If AI models like Mythos can scan the hidden plumbing of the internet – operating systems, browsers, routers, and shared open-source code – at an unprecedented scale, then what is now specialised hacking could become a routine and automated process.

If we can’t name China’s cyberattacks, we lose trust in ourselves

The West’s timid refusal to name and shame China’s constant cyber-attacks and espionage attempts encourages Beijing to escalate them and places little pressure on governments to tackle the problem.

AI fuels new cyber risks

CPA Australia has warned firms that cyber criminals are riding the current AI boom to generate a new wave of cybersecurity threats, and calls for firm’s investment in AI to be matched by enhanced cybersecurity protections.

Why do people fall for scams?

Professor Neil Levy from Macquarie University’s discipline of Philosophy explains why some people bet on an attractive fantasy – and how we can avoid falling prey to scams.

Building a human firewall

Australia’s security risks are sharpest where people and technology meet as this is the space where data flows, disinformation spreads and innovation thrives and where defences can be breached.

Don’t fall for it

The internet is full of scammers looking to cheat you out of money – and supposedly reputable companies are also full of tricks that wily consumers should be aware of.

The weakest link

Humans remain our greatest asset and our most persistent weakness in cybersecurity. Technology will continue to evolve, but it is human behaviour that ultimately determines the success or failure of cybersecurity measures.

Qantas hack exposes customers – yet again

The hack of a Qantas customer contact centre in Manila has exposed, once again, the vulnerability of customer data held by Australia’s largest and supposedly most trusted companies.