Tech Stream
Posts Tagged ‘ Security’
Special programs for a mid-year break
4 June 2010
Tech Stream is taking a short mid-year break but we have two special programs coming up for this weekend and next.
In this afternoon’s program, a special repeat from late March looking at some of the challenges faced by women working in IT and computer related industries. You can find out more about our guests and listen to the original audio in the Tech Stream 045 blog post.
Next week, the privacy paradox: how the internet and social media is dramatically changing our notions of privacy. This program was produced by Ian Townsend and originally aired on Radio National’s Background Briefing on May 16th. A full version and a transcript is available on their website.
Feel free to leave any comments about either program below, or if there is something technology-related that you would like us to cover in the future, I’d love to hear it!
Tech Stream 043
12 March 2010
Listen and download: MP3
A new type of solar module promising greater efficiency and reduced costs. Image from Technique Solar.
This week in the Tech Stream, the latest on the National Broadband Network in Australia. We’ll find out why there is opposition to the government’s plan to split Telstra, which it argues is essential to creating a more level playing field. A new undersea internet cable is being built to link New Zealand and the US, but could it also connect countries in the Pacific along the way?
We’ll shine a light on new solar panels, developed in Australia, that promise to be more efficient and cheaper to produce than current technology. And an update on the Mariposa botnet and calls for computer manufacturers to be held responsible for selling products vulnerable to attacks from cyber criminals. Finally Bajo joins us with a review of the multiplayer-focused war-game Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Full details after the jump, or follow the MP3 link above to hear the program.
Tech Stream 036
22 January 2010
Listen and download: MP3
Flowers lay on a sign at the entrance to Google’s China headquarters in Beijing’s university district. Photo by Josh Chin from Flickr.
We’ll be looking forward, on this the first Tech Stream radio program of 2010, at the gadgets, technology trends and ideas set to dominate over the next twelve months. We also wrap up some of the news around Google rethinking its strategy in China, which may involve it pulling out of the country altogether, and find out why governments in Europe are advising their citizens to abandon Microsoft’s popular web browser. Follow the MP3 link above to hear the program or continue on for more…
Twitter taken down by DDoS attack
7 August 2009
Micro-blogging social media service twitter was taken down overnight by a massive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. Its been suggested that the attack originated in Russia and was targeting a pro-Georgian blogger who is a prominent user of the service. While this is still unconfirmed the attacks have also affected Facebook and Livejournal although both sites are now back up. Twitter remains down as of 15:45 AEST Friday but the company confirmed earlier today that no personal user information had been accessed.
Technology business analyst Shelly Palmer told Associated Press Radio that denial-of-service attacks are a reality of the information age.
“People tend to want to take sites that are very public and go after them,” said Palmer, managing director of Advanced Media Ventures Group. “In fact you’d be surprised how many sites for major companies are really attacked on a daily basis. This is a crime, it’s a real crime and it should be treated that way.”
More at Associated Press and of course plenty of other news outlets, including this interesting article in TIME. You can also follow this program at twitter.com/tech_stream
Cracks appear in China’s Green Dam
16 June 2009
It seems having the most sophisticated internet filtering and blocking system in the world is simply not enough for the authorities in China. Now they are seeking to implement a more thorough and universal solution at the user-end which they say is aimed at blocking access to pornographic and violence-oriented websites. But of course it’s being viewed, both inside and outside China, as a bid at mass censorship and a threat to personal privacy. More after the jump…
Tech Stream 007
3 April 2009
Listen and download: MP3
In the Tech Stream this week we’re speaking with IT journalist Patrick Gray about the Conficker worm; Google gives internet users in China access to free music downloads in an attempt to capture more of the lucrative search market; Georgia Webster joins us to talk about the way capital letters are used and abused online; and tech-journo Adam Turner charts the rising popularity of the Blu Ray disc.
You can listen to the full program with the MP3 link above or the “Listen Now” link on the right. Feel free to comment on any of these stories below or suggest something we can follow up in future programs.
Its Conficker, you Fools!
3 April 2009
Listen and download: MP3
The Conficker computer virus (or worm) has been infecting computers across the world since November 2008. It was supposed to unleash itself on April 1st, but the day came and went with little evidence of widespread destruction or mass chaos. In some parts of the media people wondered whether it could have been an elaborate hoax?
IT security analysts certainly took the threat seriously, in fact Microsoft offered a quater of a million dollar bounty for information on the people behind the virus. A majority of infected computers are in Asia and in the last couple of days experts have noticed increased activity as the virus instructs terminals to call home… but the cataclysmic effects just didn’t materialise.
IT journalist Patrick Gray presents the Risky Business security podcast and is the managing editor of Risky.Biz, an information security news outlet. He wrote an interesting opinion piece for ABC News Online prior to April 1st and spoke with me late yesterday about the media hype around Conficker leading up to April Fools Day. You can listen to the interview via the MP3 link at the top of this post.
The PM program on ABC Radio also covered the story, on Tuesday 31st of March and then on the evening of April 1st.
Hackers love netbooks
4 March 2009
Or so goes the story on ABC news online. Reuters reports that the increase in sales for netbooks could make them attractive targets for the bad guys. It seems that users are either disabling the security features to boost performance or are just not aware that they need to protect themselves when accessing public wi-fi and vulnerable networks. The lack of suitable anti-virus and firewall software is the main concern. However Eric Ashdown, senior director for security strategy and risk management at Accenture, suggests that the most hackers would find on these casual-use devices is family photos.
Most PC makers now offer some kind of netbook, which have small screens and limited functionality. They are designed to be used for on-the-go to access to the internet, either through wireless or mobile networks. Netbooks are extremely popular, due to their low price and portability. The ABC story reports that “netbook shipments will more than double to nearly 21 million units this year, compared with about 4 per cent growth to 305 million units for all PCs”.
The full story is on ABC News Online.
