Telstra store hit by COVID outbreak
Melbourne’s flagship Telstra store has been closed after three staff members tested positive for coronavirus.
Welcome to The Download, The Australian’s technology blog for the latest breaking tech news.
Chris Griffith 5.40pm: CommBank customers complain about wiped loans
Today’s Commonwealth Bank outage still wasn’t resolved by close of business, with customers unable to make payments with their CBA credit and debit cards, or make online transactions with Netbank or the CommBank app.
It’s not just daily transacting that seems the problem. Some customers have taken to Facebook, saying that loans they had obtained from the bank had been wiped in their (customer) record of the system.
“If you have debts/loans, I suggest you check them. I have just had a couple (of) people with CBA loans wiped,” says one customer on Facebook. “OMG, just checked mine & my housing loan is gone,” says another. “Just checked as soon as I saw this and my personal loan with CBA is gone!” says a third.
The bank tonight says it is still working on fixing the system meltdown. “We’re still working to resolve the issue affecting some customers making payments with their CBA credit or debit card, as well as some services in the CommBank app and NetBank,” it says.
The bank has recommended ways for affected customers to access cash. “Customers with a CBA debit card, or a CBA credit card linked to their transaction account, can continue to make EFTPOS payments. To do so, insert the card into the EFTPOS device, select either savings or cheque, (and) enter your PIN code.
“Alternatively, ATMs continue to be available for withdrawals. Credit card cash advances may not be available.
“In addition, we are aware customers continue to experience issues with viewing accounts and statements for some home loan, credit card, transaction and savings accounts in the CommBank app and NetBank, (with) using cardless cash, making some transfers and payments in the CommBank app and NetBank.
“We apologise for this inconvenience and thank you for your patience as we work to resolve this.”
David Swan 4.30pm: Facebook responds to ‘hate speech’ boycott
The sense of crisis enveloping the social media giants is deepening, as major brands continue to leave Facebook, and in some cases social media altogether, due to what they say is inaction on dealing with hate speech.
Some of the world‘s most influential advertisers including Coca Cola, Ford, Starbucks and Unilever have pulled millions of dollars worth of advertising from Facebook in recent days, declaring that they don’t want to be associated with perceived hateful content.
The boycott is part of a global campaign, dubbed Stop Hate for Profit, which has enlisted hundreds of companies in the wake of Black Lives Matter rallies and the death of George Floyd.
The unrest has now spread to Australia. Telstra told The Australian is monitoring the situation and mulling its options.
David Swan 4.10pm: Flagship Telstra store hit by COVID-19 outbreak
Australia’s biggest telco Telstra has been forced to close its biggest Melbourne store, after three employees tested positive for coronavirus.
“Our Telstra Discovery store on Bourke Street was closed on Friday afternoon and over the weekend after a staff member returned a positive COVID test result on Friday. Over the weekend, two more staff members also returned positive tests,” a Telstra spokesman told The Australian.
“The three team members are quarantining and other staff who worked with them are now self-isolating.
“We’re working closely with the Department of Health and Human Services to help in contact tracing customers who may have been in contact with the team members last week.
“The store has received a deep clean over the weekend and will reopen today staffed by team members from other stores.
“The health and safety of our team members and customers is Telstra’s top priority – and we look forward to welcoming back customers today and Discovery store staff as soon as they’ve received the necessary clearances.”
Chris Griffith 3.00pm: France places limits on Huawei 5G
France has placed limits on the use of Huawei equipment on its next-generation 5G wireless market. The China telecommunications company is not totally banned from France’s 5G wireless market, but French operators using them will only get limited licences, the head of the national cybersecurity agency told Les Echos newspaper Sunday.
The comments were the latest development in the controversy over Huawei’s involvement, after several Western nations barred the company from participation in their 5G networks over security fears.
“The operators who don’t use Huawei, we encourage them not to go that way because it’s kind of the natural way of things,” said Guillaume Poupard, the head of France’s national cybersecurity agency ANSSI. “For those who are already using it, we issue permits that last between three and eight years,” he told Les Echos.
Those restrictions will likely limit Huawei’s access to France’s 5G network. Huawei has invested billions of dollars in the technology, competing mainly against Sweden’s Ericsson and Finland’s Nokia. Huawei has said it will pull out of partnerships with any hostile countries and focus on working with countries where they are welcome.
In Britain meanwhile, Sir John Sawers, the former head of MI6 who backed the involvement of Huawei in Britain’s 5G network, now says it should be excluded, The Times has reported.
His intervention came as the National Cyber Security Centre concluded that the Chinese company’s products were not secure after America banned it from using US components.
Sir John, writing in the Financial Times, said: “The Trump administration’s motives for trying to destroy Huawei can be debated. But the latest US sanctions, at the end of June and last week, mean that reliable non-Chinese suppliers to Huawei can no longer work with the company. UK intelligence services can therefore no longer provide the needed assurances that Chinese-made equipment is still safe to use in the UK’s telecoms network.”
Conservative MPs have warned Boris Johnson that plans to strip Huawei out of the 5G network by 2029 would be “too late”. Mr Johnson is expected to bar telecoms companies from buying new equipment from Huawei by the end of the year, with a view to removing it from the 5G network entirely by 2029, The Times reported.
With AFP & The Times
David Swan 1.35pm: CommBank suffering mass outage
The Commonwealth Bank is suffering a widespread outage, with customers unable to access their mobile banking app and in some cases not make retail payments.
“My account balances are all messed up. I have been on the phone for the last 20+ mins without anyone answering,” says one customer.
The company has offered the following statement about the issues, which seem to have started around midday.
“We’re aware of an issue impacting some POS transactions on some CBA terminals, as well as viewing cards and loans in the CommBank app and NetBank,” the statement says. “We’re working to fix this as soon as possible. We apologise to our customers for any inconvenience.”
The bank says customers may have issues with viewing accounts and statements for some home loan, credit card, transaction and savings accounts in the CommBank app and NetBank, problems with payments with some CBA credit and debit cards, and using cardless cash to make some transfers and payments in the CommBank app and NetBank.
UPDATE - 3.25pm: The outage is proving to be protracted with the bank issuing a further update indicating the problem persists. “We’re continuing to work on fixing this issue and we’re sorry for any inconvenience,” it said.
We’ll update the blog as more information comes to light.
David Swan 1.30pm: NBN achievements ‘can’t be ignored’
It’s with great pride that eleven years after NBN was established as a Government Business Enterprise and the nation’s largest ever start-up, we can place a symbolic full stop in this chapter of the national broadband network’s history, writes NBN chair Ziggy Switkowski.
David Swan 1.25pm: Food consumption trends ‘changed forever’
Wholesale grocery provider FoodByUs says the trend of consumers buying restaurant-quality food for home is here to stay, with consumers increasingly turning away from the major supermarkets.
FoodByUs, which recently secured a funding round from venture capital outfit FJ Labs, has helped fill a gap created by panic buying and delivery stoppages from the likes of Coles and Woolworths.
The start-up’s co-founder and managing director Ben Lipschitz told The Australian that wholesale suppliers have for years been looking to supply direct to consumers, and that COVID-19 had accelerated it.
“Before the pandemic, wholesalers weren’t sure how to reach consumers. Now, through our technology-driven marketplace wholesalers have at their disposal a new channel to reach consumers and both sides of the market are loving it,” he said.
“Why buy from a broadline supermarket when you can access fruit and vegetables from a third-generation provedore who knows exactly which farm the products came from and already services the best restaurants in town?”
Mr Lipschitz added that some of the changes brought about by the pandemic will be profound, including a total re-evaluation of the restaurant supply chain.
“Restaurants will be re-evaluating their supply chain and we are seeing a lot of that already,” he said.
“Venues were really caught off guard by the speed and severity of the lockdown restrictions, and as they return to ‘normal’ restaurants want to make sure their business is as protected as possible and as profitable as possible.
“Food supply is a key cost for restaurants, and they will be aggressively looking to improve this part of their business.”
Chris Griffith 1.05pm: Huawei hits out at call to strip its equipment
Huawei has hit out at a call by Macquarie Telecom for all China equipment to be stripped out of Australian telecommunications networks.
“We made the decision across the Macquarie Telecom Group to strip all Chinese equipment from our business,” writes Luke Clifton, Macquarie Telecom group executive: “We now have zero Chinese infrastructure in our network. Will other telcos do the right thing by Australia and follow our lead?”
Huawei Australia says it is “very disappointed” at Macquarie Telecom’s statement. Chief corporate affairs officer Jeremy Mitchell accused the company of using “this critical issue to try and gain commercial advantage”.
“As has been acknowledged by the European Union and two separate UK Parliamentary Committees simply banning technology from companies because of their flag of origin is completely ineffective as it does not take into account the complex nature of global supply chains.” says Mr Mitchell.
“If Telstra were forced to follow through on Macquarie Telecom’s advice and ‘do the right thing’ by removing all Chinese manufactured networking equipment then it would have to remove all of its 4G and 5G network equipment manufactured by Ericsson in China with its local state-owned joint-venture partner, Panda Electronics.
“In the same vein, both Optus and TPG/Vodafone would also have to remove all of their 4G and 5G kit from Nokia that was manufactured in China from the Nokia Shanghai Bell joint-venture.
“In addition, NBN Co would also have to strip out its 4G Fixed Wireless equipment made by Ericsson and any fixed-line network equipment made in China by Nokia, ADTRAN or Casa Systems.
“Where exactly would that leave the Australian telecoms industry and the millions that rely on its services?
“Can Macquarie Telecom be so sure it doesn’t use network equipment that is manufactured in China? Not just European vendors manufacture in China, even US companies such as Cisco and many more have substantial manufacturing facilities in China and then export that equipment globally, including to Australia.”
Mr Mitchell says Huawei supports the establishment of a government-based certification program for all network equipment providers to demonstrate that their kit meets established Cyber-Security standards before it is allowed to be deployed onto Australian networks.”
10.05am: UK minister says Huawei must meet conditions for involvement in 5G network
China’s Huawei has clear conditions to meet for Britain to continue to allow its involvement in the development of 5G telecoms infrastructure, Britain’s health minister said on Sunday, after a report that the firm would be banned from the project.
Officials are drawing up proposals to stop installing Huawei Technologies equipment in as little as six months, the Sunday Telegraph reported, in a reversal of a decision earlier this year.
Asked about the report, health minister Matt Hancock declined to comment on it specifically but said the initial recommendation had always been conditional.
“I wouldn’t comment on leaks of that kind. What I can say is that when we came out with an interim report on this earlier in the year, there are a number of conditions that needed to be met,” he said.
“I’m sure that the National Security Council will look at those conditions, and make the right decision on this, to make sure that we have both a very strong telecoms infrastructure … but also that it is secure.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who in January allowed Huawei a limited role in Britain’s 5G network, has faced intense pressure from the United States and some British lawmakers to ban the telecommunications equipment maker on security grounds.
On Tuesday he toughened his rhetoric on Huawei, warning China he would protect critical infrastructure from “hostile state vendors”.
9.00am: Tech giants face EU legal push
Big tech companies including Google parent Alphabet, Amazon and Facebook face a swath of proposed European regulations aimed at curbing their alleged anti-competitive behaviour, making them pay more taxes and compelling them to shoulder more responsibility for illegal content on their platforms, says a top European Union official.
Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s digital-policy and antitrust tsar, has detailed a comprehensive plan of how she aims to rein in US tech giants, using a package of initiatives that the EU has begun to outline individually in recent weeks. The aim is to clearly delineate new legal boundaries for tech companies, rather than just apply existing laws covering fields such as antitrust regulation.
“It’s a full complex of things. It’s not done with just one piece of legislation,” Ms. Vestager says. In her prior term as European competition commissioner, she levied record fines on Google and ordered Apple to pay Ireland $US14.5bn ($21bn) in allegedly unpaid taxes. Last year she was promoted to vice president of the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, in charge of competition and new legislation for the digital sector.
“After the first mandate and the first specific competition cases, what I have seen very clearly is that we need rigorous competition-law enforcement, but we also need regulation,” she said.
The Wall Street Journal
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