Stilgherrian

Vaguely-worded goals without measurable targets and a ragbag of existing initiatives don't make a plan, no matter how nice its colours are. Last week Prime Minister Scott Morrison proudly released his list of 63 critical technologies and boasted his…

The government has escalated its war of words against the social media giants, demanding ID for all users. But it's a strategy that we already know won't solve the problem. Image: Getty Images Every now and then, someone in power has a sook about a…

It's the government's actual job to protect our rights and freedoms, but when it comes to online it simply can't be bothered. The Australian government reckons the internet is full of bad things and bad people, so it must therefore surveil everyone…

After decades of cyber wake-up calls, maybe the time has come for cyber Darwinism to provoke survival of the cyber fittest -- although we could also follow new policy recommendations. The threat of ransomware dominates the cyber news right now, and…

The key issues around Australia’s encryption laws are oversight and the scope of the laws. Opposition parties and the INSLM want more oversight and a narrower scope. Intelligence agencies are happy with what they have, but they wouldn’t object to…

The government agrees: Australia needs a whole new electronic surveillance Act to sort out the mess. But a bunch of ad hoc laws are already making their way through parliament. The legislative framework that governs Australia's intelligence community…

Hacking virus research labs to steal their secret recipes is just industrial espionage. But cyber attacks against vaccine production and distribution would be a war crime -- if we were at war.As the fight against the coronavirus…

Labor proposes a public health approach, to cybersecurity, addressing the risk and susceptibility of the whole nation to cyber attack, not just critical infrastructure or 'big-ticket capabilities'. A UK-style national Active Cyber Defence program…

Research from QUT shows that 'some kind of a disinformation campaign' is pushing the Twitter hashtag #ArsonEmergency. There is no arson emergency. As Australia continues to battle bushfires of unprecedented size and ferocity, a social media…

The new Bill to require judicial oversight and a clarification of definitions is a great start, Labor says, but the Assistance and Access regime needs reining in much more tightly. On Tuesday the Labor Party announced it would attempt to fix…

At the end of 2018, Australia gave its intelligence and law enforcement agencies wide-ranging powers to compel communications providers to assist in accessing encrypted communications. This includes giving the attorney general the power to issue a…

(Image: Diagram by Christoph Roser at AllAboutLean.com (CC BY-SA 4.0)) Diagrams explaining the fourth industrial revolution, like this one by Christoph Roser, are OK as far as they go. Apart from the term "cyber physical systems". Ugh. What they mean…

Could 2018 finally be the watershed year, when the narrative shifts against the surveillance economy?Image credit: Daniel von AppenOur computers and smart devices don’t leak our personal data. It’s sucked out of them by an infestation of parasite…

Stories abound of people who mentioned a subject while their phone was sitting idle, then got bombarded with online ads about that subject.Image credit: Alexandre GodreauIt may seem like an urban myth, but plenty of people are convinced that Facebook…

So-called “session replay scripts” not only record everything you type, they track every mouse movement, and even what you’re looking at on the web — including personal information.Image credit: Glenn Carstens-PetersSometimes privacy fears are…

A new Crikey series, edited by technology writer Stilgherrian.Image credit: Andrew GuanBefore she’s even awake, Susan is under surveillance.Her sleep tracker recorded a restless night, the third in a row. In a database, somewhere, she’s flagged as…

How do websites and apps make you buy or sign up for things that you didn't mean to? It’s duplicitous, but all too easy.Online businesses want your personal data, and they’ll deploy every scam they know to trick you into handing it over — and keep…

An unknown malicious actor stole 30 gigabytes of data from a defence contractor. That's a huge security oopsie. But it's also a massive failure of governance, one the government is keen to sweep under the rug. On Wednesday afternoon, ZDNet broke the…

Around 30 gigabytes of ITAR-restricted aerospace and commercial data was exfiltrated by an unknown malicious actor during the months-long 'Alf's Mystery Happy Fun Time' attack. In November 2016, the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) was alerted by…

Poor management helped cause most of the Australian government’s recent string of technology failures. Stilgherrian says that’s often down to cultural issues. When it comes to managing big IT projects, the Australian government has been showering…