The Weekly Cybers #88
AN0M sting operation declared legal in Australia, Deloitte refunds part of their $440,000 fee over AI fakery, cops may be given freedom to use abuse images to catch perps, SMS Sender ID Registry rollout starts, and much, much more.
The Weekly Cybers #87
Optus fails again but pays no tax, more pushback against the social media age restrictions, plenty of AI news, and much more.
The Weekly Cybers #86
Four people die as Optus breaks Triple Zero calls, Australia’s looming social media age restrictions continue to raise questions, OpenAI’s ChatGPT features in a raft of AI stories, and more.
The Weekly Cybers #85
Vibe-based guidelines for Australia’s social media age restrictions, Kmart slapped over facial recognition, a $92,000 tweet, and more.
The Weekly Cybers #84
The social media age assurance tech trial delivered mixed results at best, robodebt victims to get another $475 million compensation, FoI restrictions to be tightened, and much more.
The Weekly Cybers #83
Employees surveilled at home claim unfair dismissal, Senate to investigate search engine safety, telco intercept laws to be tweaked, and much more.
The Weekly Cybers #82
Mumbling and grumblings about social media age restrictions because “It’s not a ban, it’s a delay”, Minister Ayers and the Productivity Commissioner talk up AI and talk down regulation, and much more.
The Weekly Cybers #81
It’s becoming predictable: social media age restrictions in the news again, AI and next week’s productivity roundtable, new cybercrime statistics, and much more.
The Weekly Cybers #80
The Productivity Commission and the Treasurer side with tech bros on AI regulation, NBN goes with Amazon’s Project Kuiper, OpenAI launches GPT-5, and much more.
The Weekly Cybers #79
Even more about Australia’s social media age restrictions including the actual rules, a little on the UK’s efforts, plenty of new legislation, and much, much more.
The Weekly Cybers #78
There’s quite a lot about internet age restrictions this week, plus extended powers for ASIO, the politics of short-form video, and a lot more.
The Weekly Cybers #77
RBA calls for an end to card payment surcharges, Meta reckons its AI needs our personal information to understand Australians, and much more.
The Weekly Cybers #76
Australia’s social media age restrictions are in the news again, the Qantas data breach wasn’t so “sophisticated” after all, and much more.
The Weekly Cybers #75
ART overturns eSafety takedown notice, Services Australia moves to Finance, Qantas suffers a data breach, and AI video fakes get harder to spot.
The Weekly Cybers #74
It’s YouTube versus the eSafety Commissioner in the social media age restrictions debate, the ACCC completes its mammoth inquiry into digital platforms, and NSW police reckon they’ve caught the Western Sydney University hacker.
The Weekly Cybers #73
Is the age assurance tech trial going well or badly? Depends who you ask. Also, Optus cops a $100 million penalty, Amazon to invest $20 billion, and Ghost Bat reaches an important milestone.
The Weekly Cybers #72
PM Anthony Albanese is still all for social media age restrictions, digital identities are a challenge to traditional espionage, and robot taxis are being lured to their death in LA.
The Weekly Cybers #71
Services Australia says AI and automation will be deployed with empathy, Apple faces pressure to open up app sales, HMAS Canberra kills Kiwi wi-fi, and much more.
The Weekly Cybers #70
Work on Australia’s social media age restrictions continues, reporting your ransomware payments is now compulsory, and much more.
The Weekly Cybers #69
ASIO and AFP are back with home affairs, the OAIC’s inquiry into children’s online privacy actually asks children, and much more.
The Weekly Cybers #68
Albanese announces his new ministry, Australia’s social media age restriction tech trials grind on, more AI stories, and more.
The Weekly Cybers #67
Labor wins the election, but until we know more we’ve got plenty of AI news from around the world.
The Weekly Cybers #66
China has a new cable-cutting submarine thing, APNIC has a new-ish boss, the people of Melbourne use OSINT to track public transport ticket inspectors, and more.
The Weekly Cybers #65
So where are the bold digital policies this election? Is “social media scary protect kiddies” all we can look forward to? Do we need a public digital infrastructure?
The Weekly Cybers #64
eSafety’s international fines slammed as “vibes-based virtue signalling”, warnings on election disinformation, US defunds CVE cybersecurity research database, and more.
The Weekly Cybers #63
Fallout from last week’s superannuation company hacks, AI passes the Turing test (or not), and yet another call for a civilian cyber reserve.
The Weekly Cybers #62
AEC rules that podcasts are The Media too, Budget a “missed opportunity”, ASX tech is rubbish, and more.
The Weekly Cybers #61
Little digital thrill in the Budget, slow progress in the age assurance tech trial, the US can’t handle its military secrets, and more.
The Weekly Cybers #60
Australian intelligence review released, news of encrypted messaging apps, new Treasury rules for cryptocurrency, and more.
The Weekly Cybers #59
Ransomware payment reporting is now mandatory, concerns over election misinformation and corporate “cyberwashing”, and why the 1980s D&D panic informs social media policy.
The Weekly Cybers #58
Proposed new rules for social media platforms, calls for sweeping changes to government AI, and no, Facebook isn’t for emergencies.
The Weekly Cybers #57
The commentariat froths over Starlink’s risk to regional Australia, Apple comes up with a sensible way to do age verification, and the ABC recreates Senator Jacqui Lambie for $100.
The Weekly Cybers #56
ASIO warns of young people’s vulnerability to radicalisation, the eSafety Commissioner discovers that most young kids are already using social media, and AI continues to be rubbish when tested.
The Weekly Cybers #55
AI doesn’t work, AI makes you dumb, AI for HR is high-risk, the US says don’t worry about AI safety, and Apple fights a UK backdoor order.
The Weekly Cybers #54
Online platforms to cop a Digital Duty of Care, but when? DeepSeek continues to break brains, concerns rise over dependence on Musk’s Starlink, and the Scams Prevention Framework is about to arrive.
The Weekly Cybers #53
Chinese AI DeepSeek breaks people’s brains, the UK reports on AI safety, Donald Trump dabbles in cryptocurrency, and much more.
The Weekly Cybers #52
Trump’s executive orders and Musk’s sookage echo around the world, the Tech Policy Design Institute is launched in Canberra, Services Australia keeps on keeping on with debt recovery, and much more.
The Weekly Cybers #51
Meta continues its swerve to the right, NBN to dump fibre-to-the-node, Services Australia gets a new minister, and much more.
The Weekly Cybers #50
Australia’s treasurer talks up cryptocurrency, Meta dumps fact-checking and loosens hateful conduct rules, federal agencies’ cybersecurity goes backwards, and more.
The Weekly Cybers #49
The continuing saga of Australia’s eSafety rules, some thoughts on digital childhood, another slap down for Craig Wright, and much more.
The Weekly Cybers #48
A new way to make big online platforms pay for news, yet another call to break open encrypted communications, and more.
The Weekly Cybers #47
Home Affairs launches a consultation on cybersecurity resilience, a trial shows you can verify a user’s age without recording their ID, and much more.
The Weekly Cybers #46
A massive week for digital policy, including social media age bans for under-16s, new cybersecurity laws, a call for national AI regulation, and even — finally! — updates to the Privacy Act.
The Weekly Cybers #45
Government rushes to pass social media bans for under-16s, ASD issues new threat report, and a whole lot more.
The Weekly Cybers #44
Australia’s War on Social Media continues, with platforms to be hit with duty-of-care responsibilities as well as age restrictions, but there’s also plenty more.
The Weekly Cybers #43
Digital platforms are the target again this week, with under-16s to be banned from social media, and an anti-scam plan that shares the blame with banks, telcos, and more.
The Weekly Cybers #42
Victorian court recognises a right to privacy, NACC suffers a blow to its credibility, and more.
The Weekly Cybers #41
Parliamentary inquiry recommends a digital affairs ministry, internet industry proposes a code for adult content, and more.
The Weekly Cybers #40
A short edition this week with news of Australia’s first AI-generated political ad, changes to My Health Record, plus social media, telco risk, AI, and rogue robot vacuum cleaners.
The Weekly Cybers #39
Australia’s massive new cybersecurity legislation package, a move to keep NBN in public hands, the continuing push for social media age bans but with hints of a rollback strategy, and much more.