ICT Professional
Cyber Security Challenge Australia (CySCA) is back and registration is open until 31st March 2017. So act quick registration is closing soon.
Check the main website for eligibility but the main restriction is it is open only to full time Australian university undergraduates and undergraduate-equivalent TAFE students based in Australia.
So if that is you and can find 3 more keen friends than register your team ASAP.
Visit Cyber Security Challenge Australia.
About time (at least a step in the right direction) mandatory reporting of data breaches by Australian companies and government. Sadly watered down to events that are classified “likely to result in serious harm” but thankfully all breaches that include credit card and medicare numbers must be reported
More details can be found at the Office of the Information Commissioner (OAIC) and background and submission papers at the Attorney-General’s Department. Fro more see comment and analysis by Roulla Yiacoumi of the Australian Computer Society (ACS).
Hopefully the data breach notification process results or evolves into what is undertaken in the USA, with everyone being able to access up-to-date breach information easily on websites like PrivacyRights.org and BreachLevelIndex.com.
From BreachLevelIndex latest report (First half findings from the 2016 pdf):
According to data collected in the Breach Level Index (BLI), there were 974 data breaches worldwide in the first half of 2016, up 15% from the 844 breaches during the previous six months (July to December 2015), and up sharply from the 766 data breaches in the first half of 2015.
More than 554 million data records were lost or stolen in the first half of 2016, compared with some 424 million lost or stolen during the previous six months. That represents a dramatic increase of 31%. And considering that 510 of the data breaches (52%) had an unknown or unreported number compromised records, the true number of lost or stolen records is much higher.
From a time perspective, 3,046,456 data records were stolen or lost every day during the first half; 126,936 data records were stolen or lost every hour; 2,116 were stolen or lost every minute and 35 were stolen or lost every second.
Review the complied info-graphic below (based on First half findings from the 2016 pdf report):
Australian consumers have the right to know when their personal data, including if their email address has been stolen/compromised. All breaches that involves any personal data should require mandatory reporting.
Have a comment or question, leave it in the comments section below.
After 10 years, Australian Gill Hicks who’s lost both her legs in a suicide bombing attack on a London train, gave Emma Alberici (ABC Lateline) a chance to talk to her and share why she’s devoted her whole life to working for peace. Hicks is actually the current Ambassador for Peace in Australia.
For the commemoration of the 10th year anniversary of the London Train bombing where a 19 year old boy blew himself to bits that killed 28 other passengers, Gill Hicks is currently doing 10 physical challenges. The first challenge that she did was climbing through the wall of the London Hospital where she and the other survivors were admitted.
When asked about how she’s been doing she said, “Great, I’m very lucky to be here. Though I’m actually feeling positive anger.” When asked what she truly meant, she said that it’s not really easy to have no legs. She said that it’s not okay to have no legs, and it’s not okay for everybody. That’s why she thinks that she needs to do something for others.
Letting her recall her most remarkable memory during the incident, instead of frowning, she smiled when she gave Emma the answer. She said she can remember rescuers holding her head and making her feel safe. It made her see humanity and unconditional love. She even talked about this young officer who held her hand all throughout the rescue and it made her feel more alive.
She even told Emma that she actually heard death, disguised in a very beautiful voice, telling her to look at herself and what she’s going to do to her life now that she’s lost both limbs. But then Hicks chose life who told her that she has free choice. And she’d made the right choice.
When asked about her opinion towards terrorism, she said that we should be more understanding and that we should stop all those destructive ideologies that keep on poisoning the minds of our people. She said we need to look back to the past to know how to prevent it and look for the cure.
After her interview, she’s just shown to everyone that there’s still hope for the humanity.
Watch full interview with Gill Hicks by Emma Alberici on ABC Lateline.
Tax Reform Debate is on the agenda this year. Join Peter Whish-Wilson, Professor Judith Sloan and John Daley at the National Press Club were some of Australia’s leading financial thinkers discuss tax reform.
Judith Sloan and Peter Whish-Wilson in particular point out how the Abbott Government has already taken some major options off the table (before the white and green papers are even released). Such as superannuation, mining tax, GST, carbon pricing and negative gearing reform (related to the current so called housing bubble).
Senator Greens Peter Whish-Wilson on Facebook, LinkedIn, Wikipedia and Twitter
Professor Judith Sloan on Wikipedia, The Australian (columnist) and Lowy Institute for International Policy
John Daley on LinkedIn, Australia Council of the Arts and Grattan Institute
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