Today
Inside the world of vigilante scam-baiters
They claim to fight for victims of online scammers, but are they really just trying to go viral?
This Month
Google just agreed to its biggest acquisition ever
The whopping $50 billion deal provides its cloud business with new cybersecurity products to offer customers as it works to catch up with Microsoft and Amazon.
Musk says X target of ‘a massive cyberattack’
The billionaire said the platform was tracing the breach to determine if “a large, co-ordinated group and/or a country is involved”.
February
‘No contact’: Ex-law firm staffer named in rogue email metadata
A former Slater and Gordon employee whose name appeared in the metadata of the email that triggered a crisis at the firm says they had nothing to do with it.
Slater insiders say only a few could have accessed leaked payroll data
Insiders say the spreadsheet that detailed the pay of the law firm’s entire workforce could only have been generated by a small number of staff and accessed by a few senior executives.
Ex-exec in law firm rogue email crisis says clue to sender is obvious
Former HR executive at Slater and Gordon, Mari Ruiz-Matthyssen, has gone public for the first time since an email with workers’ salaries was sent to all staff.
Slater and Gordon mass email scandal is lawyer against lawyer
A law firm should know better than to sweep away something 900-plus lawyers are talking about.
Hackers steal more than $2b from crypto exchange Bybit
The hack of one of Bybit’s offline Ethereum wallets is the biggest theft ever experienced in the industry, according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic.
Apple pulls most advanced security for cloud data in the UK
The move to pull its encryption feature — rather than complying and building a backdoor — is a clear rebuke of the UK government’s order.
Australian developers trialling DeepSeek say it’s 5 times cheaper
Testers say the Chinese AI platform is on par with OpenAI and Anthropic and offers an “amazing level of performance”, but is far cheaper to run.
UK orders Apple to let it spy on users’ encrypted accounts
The British government’s undisclosed demand, issued last month, requires blanket capability to view fully encrypted material.
Pemba Capital locks onto cybersecurity play ctrl:cyber
Ctrl:cyber CEO Steve Williams had a good set of numbers to present to interested parties and secure a decent multiple.
January
Brisbane ‘ethical hackers’ bank $100m payday from UK buyer
Assetnote was founded in 2018 and counts major companies including Qantas and Atlassian as clients, helping them find weaknesses in their cybersecurity.
Why DeepSeek’s breakthrough is Australia’s new China challenge
Australia needs a high-risk foreign vendor framework that is public and applies to critical infrastructure and democratic institutions, as well as government.
China’s AI leap means security must trump economics for Australia
Australia’s dilemma is that there is a tension in balancing the commercial advantages of cheaper Chinese technology with our national security interests.
This Labor MP got hacked. But now it helps him with his job
Cybersecurity envoy Andrew Charlton built a multi-million dollar firm before entering politics. But it almost came crashing down after a costly online attack.
UK’s Darktrace buys Turnbull-backed cyber firm for up to $161m
The cybersecurity giant, which counted deceased British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch as a founding investor, is set to acquire Cado Security in which Turnbull has an interest.
December 2024
Malcolm Turnbull goes from PM to investment cyberhawk
The former OzEmail chairman is working with a company trying to reduce the need for businesses to pay cyber-ransoms, the latest in his growing tech portfolio.
Quadrant goes trans-Tasman with cyber play Bastion; inks acquisition
Street Talk understands Quadrant-backed Bastion has acquired hot Melbourne-based cybersecurity business Cythera.
Are businesses ready to be outed for paying ransoms to cybercrooks?
No Australian organisation has ever had to publicly discuss making payments to hackers, but new mandatory cyber reporting reforms will change this.