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☆ Australia's war memorial mulls changing war hero display after defamation case
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Kirsty Needham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Roberts-Smith, who quit his television excutive job on Friday, has not been charged with any offences. Australian civil courts require a lower threshold to prove accusations than criminal courts do. A four-year investigation known as the Brereton report found in 2020 that Australian special forces had allegedly killed 39 unarmed prisoners and civilians in Afghanistan. Kim Beazley, chair of the Australian War Memorial and a former defence minister, said the memorial in the national capital Canberra - where Roberts-Smith's uniform, medals and portrait are displayed - helps Australians to understand the conduct and consequences of war. Greens Senator David Shoebridge had earlier called for Roberts-Smith's uniform and medals to be removed from the memorial.

Persons: Ben Roberts, Smith, Roberts, Anthony Albanese, Brereton, Albanese, Chris Moraitis, Kim Beazley, David Shoebridge, Kirsty Needham, Byron Kaye Organizations: SYDNEY, Victoria Cross, Australian Federal Police, Special Forces, Australian, Canberra, Greens, U.S, Thomson Locations: Afghanistan, Australia, Sydney

☆ Australia says PwC leak of government tax documents may be referred to police
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, May 22 (Reuters) - Australia said on Monday the government will take further steps in response to the leak of government tax plans by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and that the matter could be referred to the Australian Federal Police. PwC Australia's CEO stepped down this month and the firm has said it is "committed to learning for our mistakes". "I think the PwC experience has been deeply, deeply troubling and we've already taken some steps but we will be taking further steps," Treasurer Jim Chalmers also told ABC Radio in an interview on Monday. "I will have more to say about how we crack down on this behaviour, which is inexcusable, frankly," he said. PwC said this month that former Telstra and Optus CEO Ziggy Switkowski will lead an independent review into the leak and will report his findings and recommendations in September.

☆ A plane in Australia was forced to turn back after a fight broke out among passengers. After several hours it took off again, and there was another fight, reports say.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A plane was forced to turn round after fighting broke out on board, News.com.au reported. Fights allegedly broke out on an Australian domestic flight last week that ultimately led to the plane being turned round, a window getting smashed, and four passengers being charged, News.com.au reported. A spokesperson for the Australian Federal Police told News.com.au that the flight had to be turned around because of an "incident." Three passengers were arrested and charged when the plane landed on Groote Eylandt, the outlet reported. Though the flight was chartered by Groote Eylandt Mining Company, Insider understands that the passengers involved in the incident were members of the public.

SYDNEY, April 15 (Reuters) - The second person ever charged with violating Australia's foreign interference laws appeared in a local court on Saturday following his arrest a day earlier. Court documents reviewed by Reuters on Saturday listed a charge of reckless foreign interference against Csergo, with the offence occurring between February 2021 and April 2023 in the Australian state of New South Wales and Shanghai. Csergo had recently returned from China and was arrested on Friday at a residence in the Sydney beachside suburb of Bondi, according to neighbours. The court document also named "Ken" and "Evelyn" as engaging with Csergo. The AFP will allege "Ken" and "Evelyn" work for a foreign intelligence service and are undertaking intelligence collection activities, the statement said.

SYDNEY, April 14 (Reuters) - An Australian man who had recently returned from China was arrested in Sydney on Friday and charged with a foreign interference offence, police, court officials and neighbours of the man said. The man, who the police statement did not name, operates a business overseas and had recently returned to Australia. Csergo was arrested at a residential address in the Sydney beachside suburb of Bondi, a woman who lived at the same address told Reuters. In the statement, police allege the arrested man was contacted while overseas by an individual claiming to be from a think-tank. Csergo is the second person charged with an offence since Australia introduced foreign interference laws in 2018.

☆ Australia's Latitude Group says 7.9 million driver licence numbers stolen in data theft
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 27 (Reuters) - Digital payments and lending firm Latitude Holdings (LFS.AX) said on Monday it has determined that 7.9 million Australian and New Zealand driver licence numbers were stolen in a large-scale information theft on March 16. Apart from the 7.9 million driver licence numbers stolen, the Australian fintech firm also identified about 53,000 passport numbers were stolen and less than 100 customers had a monthly financial statement stolen. A further 6.1 million records dating back to at least 2005 were also stolen. Customers who choose to replace their stolen ID document will be reimbursed, the company said in a statement. Reporting by Navya Mittal in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Hogue, Muralikumar Anantharaman and Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

SummarySummary Companies Latitude marks worst intraday dropLatitude among latest in slew of corporate cyberattacks in AustraliaMarch 22 (Reuters) - Shares of Latitude Group Holdings (LFS.AX) slumped to their all-time low on Wednesday after the fintech firm unearthed further evidence of large-scale information theft affecting former and current customers across Australia and New Zealand. Latitude said it was attempting to identify the number of customers affected and the type of personal information stolen by the hacker. Latitude had said last week that personal information of around 328,000 customers, including copies of drivers' licences, was stolen. It took its platforms offline on Monday and said the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Cyber Security Centre were looking into the attack. Latitude GroupReporting by Upasana Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australia's Latitude takes systems offline, Federal Police investigate cyberattack
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 20 (Reuters) - Australian fintech firm Latitude Group Holdings Ltd (LFS.AX) said on Monday it had taken its platforms offline as the cyberattack detected last week remained active, adding the Federal Police was investigating the incident. Last week, the firm said personal information, mostly drivers' licence copies or licence numbers, of about 330,000 customers and applicants was stolen. Latitude said the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Cyber Security Centre were looking into the attack. Latitude shares have not traded since March 15, a day before the company first disclosed the cyberattack. Reporting by Harshita Swaminathan and Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu SahuOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australia unveils joint cyber police taskforce to 'hunt down' hackers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Australia on Saturday formalised a new cyber-policing model in a stepped-up effort to "hunt down" cyber criminal syndicates, following recent hacks impacting millions of Australians. Australia's biggest health insurer, Medibank Private Ltd (MPL.AX), last month was hit by a massive cyber attack, as Australia grapples with a rise in damaging hacks. O'Neil said around 100 officers would be part of the new partnership between the two federal agencies, which would act as "a joint standing operation against cyber criminal syndicates". The taskforce would "day in, day out, hunt down the scumbags who are responsible for these malicious crimes", she said. Attorney General Mark Dreyfus, speaking alongside O'Neil in Melbourne, refused to be drawn on whether the ransomware group REvil was responsible for recent cyber attacks on Australians.

☆ Australia to consider banning paying of ransoms to cyber criminals
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Australia's Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil on Sunday said the government would consider making illegal the paying of ransoms to cyber hackers, following recent cyber attacks affecting millions of Australians. Australia's biggest health insurer, Medibank Private Ltd (MPL.AX), last month suffered a massive cyber attack, as Australia grapples with a rise in hacks. Asked on ABC television on Sunday whether the government planned to look at outlawing ransom payments to cyber criminals, O'Neil said "that's correct". Around 100 officers would be part of the new partnership between the two federal agencies, which would act as a joint standing operation against cyber criminals. The AFP earlier this week said Russia-based hackers were behind the attack on Medibank, which compromised data from around 10 million current and former customers.

☆ Medibank data breach: Australia blames cyber criminals in Russia for attack
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Hilary Whiteman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Medibank says the stolen data belongs to 9.7 million past and present customers, including 1.8 million international customers. Kershaw said police intelligence points to a “group of loosely affiliated cyber criminals” who are likely responsible for previous significant data breaches around the world, without naming specific examples. “These cyber criminals are operating like a business with affiliates and associates who are supporting the business. An initial ransom demand was made for $10 million (15 million Australian dollars), but the company said after extensive consultation with cybercrime experts it had decided not to pay. In his statement on Friday, Kershaw, the AFP Commissioner, said Australian government policy did not condone paying ransoms to cyber criminals.

☆ Australia's No. 1 health insurer says hacker stole patient details
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Byron Kaye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

SYDNEY, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Australia's biggest health insurer said on Thursday a criminal had apparently stolen customers' medical information as part of a massive breach of data, fuelling concern about a wave of high-profile cyber attacks. The company did not say how many of its 4 million customers were likely to have been affected but warned the number was likely to rise. 2 telco Optus, owned by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (STEL.SI), revealed a month ago that data of up to 10 million customers may have been stolen. read moreUntil now, most public commentary has focused on the risk that hackers would use stolen data to access bank accounts. Larger Optus rival Telstra Corp Ltd (TLS.AX) has disclosed a small breach of employee data, while No.

☆ Australia's Medibank says it has been contacted by hackers
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Oct 20 (Reuters) - Australia's Medibank Private Ltd (MPL.AX) said on Thursday it was contacted by a criminal group claiming to have stolen data, including names and phone numbers, among other details, of customers in light of the cyber attack it suffered a week ago. The health insurer said that the cyber incident was now being investigated by the Australian Federal Police. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Tejaswi Marthi in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.VOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

2 mobile operator, said last week that data of up to 10 million customers including home addresses, drivers' licenses and passport numbers had been compromised in one of Australia's biggest data breaches. The Australian federal government has blamed Optus for the breach, flagged an overhaul of privacy rules and higher fines, and suggested the company had "effectively left the window open" for hackers to steal data. Minister For Cyber Security Clare O'Neil said she was "incredibly concerned ... about reports that personal information from the Optus data breach, including Medicare numbers, are now being offered for free and for ransom", referring to the government's health insurance scheme. Optus Chief Executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin said the incident had generated "a lot of misinformation" and the company took data protection seriously. "The Optus data has been stolen, and we can't trust this person.

☆ Optus, Australian govt clash over cyber attack amid reports of hacker retreat
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A woman uses her mobile phone as she walks past in front of an Optus shop in Sydney, Australia, February 8, 2018. Optus Chief Executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin said there was lot of "misinformation out there". Rosmarin said Optus had briefed authorities after the government's initial review of the incident. Stolen data posted in an online forum has been deleted and hackers have apologised to Optus, the reports said. Australia's Council Of Financial Regulators, which includes the central bank, on Tuesday said its members have been working together in response to the cyber attack.

☆ Cyber attack on Australia's Optus puts addresses, passport info at risk
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Timothy Aeppel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterA woman uses her mobile phone as she walks past in front of an Optus shop in Sydney, Australia, February 8, 2018. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterOptus said it immediately shut down the attack after discovering it, and that payment details and account passwords had not been compromised. The company's services, including mobile and home internet, are not affected, and messages and voice calls have not been compromised, it said. "Optus services remain safe to use and operate as per normal," the company said in a statement, adding that it has notified the Australian Federal police and other key regulators regarding the breach. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Tejaswi Marthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika SyamnathOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Instagram will notify users if a child goes missing in their area, sharing pictures and abduction location
▼ + stars: | 2022-06-02 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Instagram is rolling out a feature to help locate missing children. Shareable AMBER Alerts will display in a user's feed when they are within the search area. An AMBER Alert will appear in a user's feed if they are within the search area of a missing child. The alerts are triggered by law enforcement and cover only the area where there is an active search for a missing child. "Photos are the most important tool in the search for missing children," said John Bischoff of the Missing Children Division at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

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