Executive, The Scream
AI/Machine Learning

Generative AI is freaking out Australian tech execs, who say they’re not ready to deal with its risks

- November 2, 2025 3 MIN READ

Australian technology leaders are losing sleep over increasing regulatory complexity, growing damage from ransomware, and the challenges of near-ubiquitous artificial intelligence (AI) and deepfakes, a new survey by cybersecurity body ISACA has found. Generative AI (genAI) and large language models will drive the agenda in 2026, with 64% of Oceania respondents to ISACA’s 2026 Tech… Read more »

Business

Company used laptops as ‘listening devices’ – now the employees are claiming unfair dismissal

- August 28, 2025 3 MIN READ

An Australian compliance training company has been accused of turning the laptops of its workers into listening devices to surveil them while they worked from home. Online compliance training provider Safetrac deployed employee monitoring software earlier this year that recorded the audio and screens of some of its workers, which picked up online team meetings… Read more »

Cyber security

Australia bans Russian cybersecurity software firm Kaspersky on government devices over espionage concerns

- February 25, 2025 3 MIN READ

Australia has banned the use of Kaspersky Lab products across government, mandating the popular antivirus suite be removed from federal government systems. Since 2017, Russia-based cybersecurity vendor Kaspersky Lab has faced a slew of international bans over perceived risks to national security – namely that the Kremlin could hold sway over the organisation and its… Read more »

Abigail Bradshaw,
Cyber security

Australia’s new chief cyber spook has $10 billion to tackle a massive problem

- August 28, 2024 3 MIN READ

The selection of Abigail Bradshaw as the new head of Australia’s cyber spy agency, the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), sends a strong message. It confirms the government’s increasing intelligence focus on domestic cybersecurity, both to disrupt foreign influence operations and to promote better protection of our national cyber systems. The ASD is so far succeeding… Read more »

Cybersecurity
Cyber security

What you need to know about the Australian government’s 7-year plan to ramp up cyber security

- November 23, 2023 4 MIN READ

After lengthy deliberation, the Australian government has released its 2023–2030 Cyber Security Strategy, which aims to make Australia one of the most cyber-secure nations in the world by 2030. It’s a worthy goal, considering Australia was ranked as the fifth-most powerful cyber nation in a 2022 report by Harvard University’s Kennedy School. The strategy outlines… Read more »

Cyber attack
Cyber security

Hackers steal 100,000+ drivers licenses in Latitude Financial cyber attack

- March 16, 2023 3 MIN READ

The driver licence information of a hundred thousand Australians has been stolen after a major consumer finance company was targeted with a “sophisticated and malicious cyber-attack”. Latitude Financial, a major non-bank lender of consumer credit in Australia boasting 2.8 million customer accounts, revealed on Thursday that it had been breached following a significant cyber attack… Read more »

Cybersecurity
Cyber security

There are two critical questions in the Australian government’s discussion paper on improving cybersecurity

- March 3, 2023 3 MIN READ

The federal government is pursuing a new cybersecurity agenda in the wake of last year’s major cyber breaches with Optus and Medibank. “For businesses these days, cybersecurity is as important as having a lock on the door”, said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in opening the government’s cybersecurity roundtable in Sydney on Monday. There, Minister for… Read more »

Cyber Security
Cyber security

The Australian government is ramping up its cybersecurity response after the Optus and Mediback hacks

- February 27, 2023 2 MIN READ

The federal government is further stepping up its efforts to improve Australia’s protection against increasing cyber threats, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday announcing the establishment of a Coordinator for Cyber Security. The aim is to “ensure a centrally coordinated approach” to the government’s cyber security responsibilities. This would include coordinating and “triaging” action… Read more »

horse, fall, crash
Business strategy

Why startups are cruising for a bruising if they ignore privacy and security

- November 21, 2022 3 MIN READ

The spate of global and local data leaks – privacy breaches that affected millions of Australian consumers and thousands of Australian businesses – have much to teach the corporate world: that business growth should not come at the expense of customer privacy. These incidents tend to occur because many companies operate business models that collect,… Read more »

cyber hacking
Politics

The Optus data breach shows why Australia needs mandatory disclosure laws

- October 20, 2022 3 MIN READ

The Optus data breach, which has affected close to 10 million Australians, has sparked calls for changes to Australia’s privacy laws, placing limits on what and for how long organisations can hold our personal data. Equally important is to strengthen obligations for organisations to publicly disclose data breaches. Optus made a public announcement about its… Read more »

Cyber security

The Optus hacker says they deleted the stolen data, but here’s what experts want you to know

- September 29, 2022 4 MIN READ

Shortly after Australian telecommunications company Optus announced the identity data of millions of customers had been stolen, a person claiming to be the hacker announced they would delete the data for US$1 million. When Optus didn’t pay, the purported hacker published 10,000 stolen records and threatened to release ten thousand more every day until the… Read more »