IT Pro

Australians' privacy at mercy of hackers, experts warn

The private details of millions of Australians are at the mercy of cybercriminals, experts warn.
Berners-Lee urges Magna Carta for the web

The father of the web renews calls for rules to enshrine universal access to the internet.
10 ways e-voting could save or destroy democracy

Voting is set to go digital in the near future, but are machines any less fallible than humans?

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Australians' privacy at mercy of hackers, say IT security experts

Ben Grubb and Noel Towell 7:20 AM The private details of millions of Australians are at the mercy of cybercriminals because of flimsy security around a critical government website, experts warn.

Online freedom

Berners-Lee pushes for laws to guarantee open, free internet

Lia Timson Father of the world wide web renews calls for an internet Magna Carta to enshrine universal access and benefits to all people.

e-vote

10 ways e-voting could save or destroy democracy

Will Australia's elections ever be run online?

Liam Tung It seems a forgone conclusion that with everything going digital, voting is sure to follow. But are machines really any less fallible than error-prone humans?

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Governance

Internet industry seen as winner at global conference in Brazil

Google joined hundreds of companies and governments represented at NETMundial in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Esteban Israel Technology companies and other participants in the internet ecosystem should control it, free of government intervention, talkfest concluded.

Web

After Heartbleed, tech giants team up to fund open-source projects

Web initiative: Tech companies are donating millions to fund open source improvements.

Jim Finkle Tech companies are donating millions of dollars to fund improvements in open source programs such as OpenSSL, the software whose Heartbleed bug has sent the internet into turmoil.

Lawsuit

Apple, Google agree to pay $350 million to settle conspiracy lawsuit

Dan Levine Four major tech companies have agreed to pay a total of $US324 million to settle a lawsuit accusing them of conspiring to hold down salaries in Silicon Valley.

Digitisation

Schools jump online taking parents with them

Sylvia Pennington Australian schools have embraced online systems automating everything from canteen ordering to selling seats at the end of year concert.

Security

FBI informant 'led cyberattacks' on foreign nations

The hacking campaign appears to exploit so called "zero-day" vulnerabilities such as the recent Heartbleed bug.

Mark Mazzetti An informant working for the FBI co-ordinated a 2012 campaign of hundreds of cyberattacks on foreign websites, including some operated by the governments of Iran, Syria, Brazil and Pakistan, according to documents and interviews with people involved in the attacks.

Business

Apple's Profit Climbs, but Cracks Are Showing

Brian X. Chen Apple's remarkable growth streak - now more than a decade old - is starting to show its age.

Facebook profit tripled in first quarter

Friends aren't all they seem on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Vindu Goel Continuing its recent strong growth, Facebook reported on Wednesday that its revenue grew 72 per cent and net income nearly tripled in the first quarter.

Internet governance

Brazil's Dilma Rousseff praises US for relaxing grip on internet

'The openness of the internet has been the key to its growth and value': Vint Cerf, one of its "fathers" and a vice president at Google, told the conference.

Esteban Israel Brazil has called for a more democratic, transparent internet free from US control at global governance meeting.

Security

ATM skimmers go wireless

Jordan Robertson Criminals engaged in ATM skimming are now exploiting wireless technology to pull off their schemes more easily, according to security report.

Patents

Google's stake in $2 billion Apple-Samsung trial revealed

Joel Rosenblatt Google's stake in the outcome of a $US2 billion trial over Android smartphones was revealed by testimony that the company indemnified Samsung against some of Apple's patent claims.

Surveillance

Brazilian Congress passes Internet bill of rights

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff is pushing for a less US-centric internet.

Anthony Boadle Equal access and privacy protections included in 'Internet Constitution' US operators will need to observe.

Review

Hands on: Microsoft Office for iPad

Can you finally leave your laptop behind and still get some serious work done on the road?

Cyber security

Verizon security report to help funnel funds into the right holes

It's easier to make sense of cyber threats as they apply to each industry sector, a new report has found.

Lia Timson Cyber security threats vary according to industry sector, a report has found.

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Patents

Richardson's no-password security in development

Andrew Colley A Byron Bay inventor who went toe-to-toe with Microsoft in a massive patent battle and won is now working on something "much bigger".

Security

The hidden costs of the Heartbleed security bug

Heartbleed has left swathes of websites and users exposed.

Ben Grubb The Heartbleed security bug is set to cost millions to clean up, according to an internet company that has crunched the numbers on the extra internet traffic costs imposed by it.

Broadband

1GB per day mobile broadband plan a huge challenge

Can consumers look forward to 1GB of mobile data per day?

Tony Brown Mobile broadband vendor Nokia Solutions & Networks claims it will enable operators to offer phone subscribers 1GB of mobile data per day by 2020.