By Cameron Abbott and Allison Wallace
Last month we blogged about the potential for data from our smart devices being used against us in court. Well, that potential has now been realised in Australia, with prosecutors in a murder trial in Adelaide telling the court that data from the victim’s Apple Watch helped pin down her suspected murderer.
By Cameron Abbott and Samantha Tyrrell
It has been alleged that Cambridge Analytica, a political data analytics firm specialising in psychological profiling, has tapped more than 50 million users’ Facebook profiles without their consent and subsequently used the data to assist Donald Trump’s 2016 electoral campaign.
By Cameron Abbott and Allison Wallace
Smart home devices like the Google Home and Amazon Echo were popular gifts this past Christmas – just like Fitbits have been the Christmases past.
But could these smart devices that we rely on to seek out and relay information to us, turn on our favourite music, or count our calories and steps, be used to produce evidence against us, if we were to commit a crime? Read More
By Cameron Abbott and Allison Wallace
Sometimes you don’t need a “hack” to have a cybersecurity issue. The locations of several US military bases in the Middle East seem to have been inadvertently revealed through US soldiers’ use of fitness tracking devices, and the fitness tracking app Strava. Read More
By Cameron Abbott and Harry Crawford
A recent survey has shown that nearly one-third (29%) of US businesses experienced a data breach in the previous year.
The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company, part of global reinsurer Munich Re, conducted the survey which shows that 8 in 10 affected businesses spent at least $5,000 to respond. 27 percent of the businesses spent between US$5,000 and US$50,000 to respond to the data breach and 30 percent spent between US$50,000 and US$100,000, and a considerable portion spent even more than that. The costs were not only directly financial, with two-thirds of the affected businesses reporting their reputation was negatively impacted.
By Cameron Abbott, Allison Wallace and Olivia Coburn
The personal details of almost 50,000 Australians have been published online by a third party government contractor, who is yet to be identified. And I guess you would feel a little shy about owning up to this one!
By Cameron Abbott, Rob Pulham and Olivia Coburn
A Belgian researcher has discovered a weakness in WPA-2, the security protocol used in the majority of routers and devices including computers, mobile phones and connected household appliances, to secure internet and wireless network connections.
The researcher, Mathy Vanhoef, has named the flaw KRACK, for Key Reinstallation Attack.
Any device that supports Wi-Fi is likely to be affected by KRACK, albeit devices will have different levels of vulnerability depending on their operating systems. Linux and Android are believed to be more susceptible than Windows and iOS, and devices running Android 6.0 are reportedly particularly vulnerable.
By Cameron Abbott and Olivia Coburn
A hacker has breached the computer system of an unnamed defence contractor and stolen 30 gigabytes of data, including information on Australia’s $17 billion Joint Strike Fighter program.
The data breach, which the Australian Government publicly disclosed last week, also includes information about Australia’s $4 billion P-8 surveillance plane project, Collins Class submarines and the warships HMAS Canberra and HMAS Adelaide. The Government has emphasised that the stolen data is commercially sensitive but not classified.
The announcement coincides with the release of the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s 2017 Threat Report, available here, which reveals that the hack is among 734 cyber incidents affecting private sector systems of national interest and critical infrastructure providers.
By Cameron Abbott and Olivia Coburn
Equifax has joined Yahoo on the podium for the award no one wants: suffering one of the largest data breaches in history.
Equifax, one of the three largest US credit reporting agencies, announced last week that it suffered a cybersecurity incident potentially impacting 143 million US consumers – a figure comprising of roughly 55 per cent of Americans aged 18 years or older. Some UK and Canadian residents are also affected.
By Cameron Abbott and Olivia Coburn
Global spending on information security products and services will reach $86.4 billion this year, according to US-based technology research and advisory firm Gartner, Inc.
This figure is an increase of 7 per cent over 2016, and is expected to grow to $93 billion in 2018.
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