Anonymous Unfurls ‘Operation Titstorm’: Via Threat Level.

Several Australian government websites were slowly recovering Wednesday hours after the online prankster group, Anonymous, unleashed a massive distributed denial-of-service attack to protest the country’s evolution toward internet censorship.

The group, which has brought down Scientology’s websites and undertaken a host of other online pranks, dubbed the attack “Operation Titstorm” to protest the government’s move to require the filtering of pornography hosting adult actors if they appeared under age. Other violent material targeting children is also to be censored.

Anonymous, whose past targets include uncool virtual worlds, an epilepsy message board and a Neo-Nazi webcaster,  sent Australian media e-mail messages warning of the attack, the Sydney Morning Herald said. [ Read more ... ]

Fighting Internet Censorship in Australia: Via EFF.org Updates.

Our fellow Internet freedom advocates at Electronic Frontiers Australia are gearing up for an important fight in the new year as the Australian government proposes mandatory national Internet filters with a secret blacklist. EFA is looking for volunteers and colleagues — particularly Australians, but they can use help from outside Australia as well — to help take on this critical issue. As Lelia Green wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald, the censorship proposal risks "legitimating a range of repressive policies pursued by some of the globe's least accountable governments."

In 2006, the New York Times reported that the People's Republic of China was defending its Internet censorship and surveillance practices by claiming that they were not particularly different from those of other countries. The Times reported that a Chinese official argued (in the newspaper's paraphrase) that "the controls [China] places on Web sites and Internet service providers in mainland China do not differ much from those employed by the United States and European countries". [ Read more ... ]

Australia Restores Some Sanity to Airport Screening: Via Schneier on Security.

Welcome news:

Carry-on baggage rules will be relaxed under a shake-up of aviation security announced by the Federal Government today.

The changes will see passengers again allowed to carry some sharp implements, such as nail files and clippers, umbrellas, crochet and knitting needles on board aircraft from July next year.

Metal cutlery will return to return to cabin meals and airport restaurants following Government recognition that security arrangements must be targeted at 'real risks'.

I'm sure these rules won't apply to flights to the U.S., where security arrangements must still be targeted at movie-plot threats.

Read Original Article:(Via Schneier on Security.)

First Ever iPhone Worm Rick Rolls Australia: Via Threat Level.

The Rick Astley plan to take over the world has entered phase two.

iPhone users in Australia were invaded in the last few days by a photo of the 1980s crooner and the words “ikee is never going to give you up,” a reference to Astley’s greatest hit, “Never Gonna Give You Up.”

The image, installed by what’s purportedly the first worm to hit iPhones, replaced the wallpaper image phone owners normally saw when their handhelds entered lock mode.

A hacker who goes by the names “Ikee” and “Ikex” took credit for the attack, which affects only jailbroken iPhones whose owners have installed SSH and neglected to change the default root password, “alpine.” Once a phone is infected, the worm searches for other vulnerable phones in the user’s mobile network, according to security firm Sophos, which notes that four variants of the worm have been spotted so far.

The author, in notes inserted in the malware, chastises users for failing to read their manuals and changing their passwords. [ Read more ... ]

Jetstar sorry for harassing teen girl: Via Travel News | News.com.au .

JETSTAR has been forced to apologise to a woman who complained a male flight attendant tried to befriend her 15-year-old daughter on Facebook hours after their plane landed.

[...]

She said her daughters did not give the attendant their names but the younger one received a friendship request, followed by messages asking why she hadn't added him as a Facebook friend.

[...]

The airline has since blocked the man from making any Facebook friend requests, but Elizabeth said she was worried especially during the school holidays that he had made other such requests and impressionable young girls had accepted them. [ Read more ... ]

NSW seeks to build 'unhackable' netbook network: Via Security - Technology - News - iTnews.com.au.

The NSW Department of Education is using asset-tracking software, RFID tags, and BIOS-embedded filtering smarts to roll out 240,000 netbook computers into what CIO Stephen Wilson calls "the most hostile environment you can roll computers into" - the local high school.

The rollout of Lenovo netbooks, funded under the Federal Government's Digital Education Revolution initiative, is a massive logistical and IT security challenge, and the solution Wilson and his team has put together to address these issues could well be applicable to any corporate IT department. [ Read more ... ]

Safety first for IT executives in China: Via CRN Australia .

US Government recommends weighing laptop before and after each visit.

Senior executives in US IT companies have been advised by the US Government to follow extremely strict policies for visits to China which extend far beyond standard software protection.

The policies encourage them to leave their standard IT equipment at home and to buy separate gear only for use in China. [ Read more ... ]

‘Anonymous’ Declares War on Australia Over Internet Filtering: Via Threat Level.

“Anonymous” has struck again — this time declaring war on Australia.

Hackers identifying themselves as “Anonymous” launched a denial-of-service attack Wednesday against a web site for Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to protest a government proposal to filter internet content, according to the Australian Associated Press.

The hackers also targeted a web site belonging to the Australian Communications and Media Authority and planned to attack a web site for Communications Minister Stephen Conroy as well.

According to a message posted by the purported hacker on a different web site, the government proposal to introduce a mandatory internet filtering plan would amount to China-like censorship. [ Read more ... ]

Crime expert backs calls for 'licence to compute' - : Via Security - Technology - News - iTnews.com.au .

But education should take back seat to product safety.

Australia's leading criminologist thinks online scams have escalated to such a point that first-time users of computers should have to earn a licence to surf the web.

Russel Smith, principal criminologist at the Australian Institute of Criminology said the concept of a "computer drivers licence" should be taken seriously as an option for combating internet-related crime.

"There's been some discussion in Europe about the use of what's called a computer drivers licence -  where you have a standard set of skills people should learn before they start using computers," Dr Smith told iTnews. [ Read more ... ]

Hackers Break Into Police Computer | Australian Federal Police: Via theage.com.au >.

An Australian Federal Police boast, on the ABC's Four Corners program, about officers breaking up an underground hacker forum, has backfired after hackers broke into a federal police computer system.

Security consultants say police appear to have been using the computer as a honeypot to collect information on members of the forum but the scheme came undone after the officers forgot to set a password.

Last Wednesday, federal police officers in co-operation with Victoria Police executed a search warrant on premises in Brighton, Melbourne, connected to the administrator of an underground hacking forum, r00t-y0u.org, which had about 5000 members.

Many details of the investigation were revealed for the first time on Four Corners last night. [ Read more ... ]

TO: Coles Online Customer Service online.customercare@coles.com.au
CC: The world

It looks like the idiots(in my opinion) at Coles(in Australia) can't seem to figure out how to actually remove someone from their mailing list. Their little legal disclaimer claims they need 5 days to take you off their mailing list, I've given them MUCH more time then that following each of the multiple requests I have made. [ Read more ... ]

Telstra lays down the law on Twitter: Via The Sydney Morning Herald / Technology - smh.com.au .

Telstra has become the first major Australian company to set down guidelines on the use of Facebook, Twitter and similar websites by its employees.

The release of a six-page set of rules comes after the bizarre controversy surrounding a Telstra worker, Leslie Nassar, who set up a Twitter account in the name of the Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy.

Under the guidelines, which are backed up with the threat of disciplinary action, employees using sites on official Telstra business should disclose who they are, ensure they do not give away confidential information and treat other users with respect.

They are required to complete an accreditation process and undergo training to update their "knowledge on emerging social trends and evolving best practice in social media". [ Read more ... ]

Aussie Minister Backs Down on Internet Censorship: Via Slashdot: Your Rights Online.

gballard writes
"After the constant furore raised by rights groups, ISPs and concerned citizens over the Australian Government's planned 'internet filter,' it seems that Australia Communications Minister Stephen Conroy is finally backing down. In a recent interview, the Minister conceded that many of the sites blocked by the filter were legitimate businesses (including, in one case, a Queensland dentist's homepage) and changed his story on whether the planned filter would restrict 'Refused Classification' websites or use the broader (and more vague) criterion of 'prohibited.' It's a positive step, but as the article above suggests, at the moment it's only one crack in the defenses of a censorship plan with broad ramifications for Australian internet users."

Read Original Article (Via Slashdot: Your Rights Online.)

iiNet faces the music in landmark case: Via BizTech - Technology - smh.com.au .

iiNet is steadfastly refusing to admit that any of its users engaged in illegal downloading, despite forensic evidence presented by movie studios that apparently shows the date and time of thousands of individual copyright infringements.

In the Federal Court today, where iiNet is being sued in a landmark case by seven major movie studios and the Seven Network for allegedly permitting customers to download movies illegally, iiNet's lawyers said they would clarify their position on the issue by next Wednesday. [ Read more ... ]

Australian ISP Argues For BitTorrent Users: Via Slashdot: Your Rights Online.

taucross writes "Australian ISP iiNet is making a very bold move. They are asking the court to accept that essentially, BitTorrent cannot be used to distribute pirated content because a packet does not represent a substantial portion of the infringing material. They are also hedging their bets purely on the strength of the movie studios' 'forensic' evidence. This ruling will go straight to the heart of Australia's copyright law. At last, an ISP willing to stand up for its customers! Let's hope we have a technically-informed judge."

Read Original Article (Via Slashdot: Your Rights Online.)

Hackers Deface Internet Site of Australian Government Censorship Board: Via Wired: Threat Level.

Australia's official online censorship board's web page was offline Thursday hours after hackers hijacked it to protest revelations the government was going to require ISPs to block public access to thousands of web sites – many of which aren't obscene.

Anonymous hackers defaced the Censorship Board's homepage -- classification.gov.au -- and restated the board's public message in a chilling and humorous tone.

"We are part of an elaborate deception from China to control and sheepify the nation, to protect the children," one part of the five-sentence message read, according to a screenshot. "All opposers must hate children, and therefore must be killed with a (sic) large melons…." [ Read more ... ]

German Police Raid Homes of Wikileaks.de Domain Owner: Via Slashdot: Your Rights Online.

BountyX writes "First and foremost, wikileaks.org is back up after downtime due to server load; however, the German government wants to keep the site down. According to their twitter page, police have raided the home of Wikileaks.de domain owner Theodor Reppe (PDF) over internet censorship lists that were leaked two weeks ago. What the Australian government's secret ACMA internet censorship blacklist has to do with Germany is a mystery. This case is a prime example of multiple governments collaborating in support of censorship." [ Read more ... ]

IiNet Pulls Out of Australian Censorship Trial: Via Slashdot: Your Rights Online.

taucross writes "ISP iiNet today confirmed its exit from the Australian government's Internet filtering trials. iiNet had originally taken part in the plan in order to prove the filter was flawed. Citing a number of concerns, their withdrawal leaves only five Australian ISPs continuing to test the filter."

Read Original Article (Via Slashdot: Your Rights Online.)

Aussie stumbles on 19,000 exposed credit card numbers: Via iTnews Mobile Edition .

A defunct payment gateway has exposed as many as 19,000 credit card numbers, including up to 60 Australian numbers.

The discovery by a local IT industry worker was made by mistake.

Apart from being the result of poor security, it may also have been aided by a side-effect of the Google search engine, in which the pages of defunct web sites containing sensitive directories remain cached and available to anyone.

The cached data, viewed by iTnews, includes 22,000 credit card numbers, including CVVs, expiry dates, names and addresses. [ Read more ... ]

Activists Use Wikipedia To Test Aussie Net Censors: Via Slashdot: Your Rights Online.

pnorth writes "Editors at Wikipedia have removed a link to a blacklisted web site that sat uncontested for over 24 hours in the main body of the Australian regulator's own Wikipedia entry. The link, which directs readers to a site containing graphic imagery of aborted foetuses, was inserted into ACMA's Wikipedia entry by a campaigner against Internet filtering to determine whether Australia's communications regulator had a double-standard when it came to censoring web content. [ Read more ... ]

Australia Censors Wikileaks Page Via Threat Level :

Australia blacklisted on Monday a webpage from the whistle-blowing site Wikileaks that contains a list of urls censored by Dutch authorities, a move adding to the country's debate about whether the government should mandate internet filters.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority added the urls for the Dutch secret list of child porn sites and Wikileaks' press release about publishing that list to ACMA's own censorship list.

ACMA's list is estimated to hold more than a thousand urls currently and is distributed to Australian ISPs, which are required by law to make filters available to users. [ Read more ... ]

Conversation: Filtering in Oz: Via Princeton Center for Information Technology Policy Podcast.

Tim Lee, a CITP Grad Student, joins David Robinson and Ed Felten to discuss Derek E. Bambauer’s ‘Filtering in Oz’ and Australia’s decision to implement ISP-level internet filtering and censorship, as well as the difficulties that have risen from the Australian government’s new policy.

Filtering in Oz: Australia’s Foray into Internet Censorship, by Derek E. Bambauer

Read Original Article (Via Princeton Center for Information Technology Policy Podcast.)

Australian Internet Censorship Plan Torpedoed: Via Slashdot: Your Rights Online

An anonymous reader writes "The Australian Government's plan to introduce mandatory internet censorship has been scuttled, following an independent senator's decision to join the Greens and Opposition in blocking any legislation needed to start the scheme. Anti-Gambling Senator Nick Xenophon previously supported the filter because it could also block gambling web sites, but today withdrew support saying "the more evidence that's come out, the more questions there are on this". This week surveys found only less than 10% of Australians supported the censorship. Censorship Senator Stephen Conroy has consistently ignored advice from technical experts saying the filters would slow the internet, block legitimate sites, be easily bypassed and fall short of capturing all of the nasty content available online. Conroy expanded the list to block Adult R18+ and X18+ web sites, and this week said it would also block sites depicting drug use, crime, sex, cruelty, violence or "revolting and abhorrent phenomena" that "offend against the standards of morality". Last week an anti-abortion website was added to the blacklist, and Conroy said he was considering expanding the blacklist to 10,000 sites and beyond."

Read Original Article ( Via Slashdot: Your Rights Online. )

global minilinks for 2009-01-25: Via EFF.org Updates

• Swedish Police want Personal Info from P2P users
  Court orders obtaining info on file-sharers would be easier under a proposed new Swedish law.
• China's Porn Crackdown may be Aimed at Dissent
  Observers note that the Chinese arrests aimed at removing "vulgarity" from the Internet are part of a wider, political, dragnet.
[ Read more ... ]
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Aussie Regulator Comes Down On SMS Spam - Via Slashdot:

An anonymous reader writes "The Australian Communications and Media Authority has commenced legal proceedings in the Federal Court against several local and international companies over allegedly unsolicited SMS spam. It's the first time the regulator has used its powers under the Spam Act to pursue an alleged SMS spammer through the Courts. Other companies have been fined or committed to an 'enforceable undertaking' to avoid this type of action (although these are not without issue). Another firm accused of SMS spam accused the regulator of being overzealous after it received a formal warning. The regulator appears to have instituted a crackdown on the premium mobile content industry in recent months, culminating in this latest action."

(Read Original Article - Via Slashdot.)