Technology

Consumer Security

'Hero' who stopped Wannacry has been arrested

British IT expert Marcus Hutchins has been detained.

A British security researcher, who became an internet hero after he was credited with stopping a malicious software attack earlier this year, has been arrested at the Las Vegas airport and charged in connection with a separate attack.

How to protect against ransomware

The WannaCry warning screen, Chinese version.

In the wake of the ransomware outbreaks using Wannacry and the related follow-up, Petya, there has been a lot of discussion about digital protection. But how can you be sure your data is safe?

Is the government's cybersecurity strategy failing?

We have been overtaken by other countries when it comes to certain aspects of our policy.

Citing a UN report that says Australia is lagging on cybersecurity cooperation, Labor's spokeswoman on cyber security and defence says our fall from fourth place to seventh is 'a direct result of the Turnbull government's failure to effectively implement its own cyber security strategy and engage with international partners'.

How 'NotPetya' spread from Ukraine, and why it may still be a threat

Employees read a ransomware demand for the payment of $300 worth of bitcoin on company computers infected by the 'Petya' ...

Hijacking the servers of a company which makes a popular accounting program, hackers sent false software updates to around a million computers, which kicked off the massive worldwide spread of 'NotPetya' last week. Experts now believe the apparent mass ransom attempt was merely a cover for something more nefarious, and Ukrainian authorities are scrambling to untangle it.

Medicare details of every Australian up for sale

An apparent security hole in the health system is being exploited.

A confronting report shows that a vendor on the dark web can pull up the full Medicare card details of any Australian on request — and is selling them for around $30 each — indicating a security hole somewhere in the health system.

The Western tech firms sharing cyber secrets with Russia

IBM, and many others,allow Russian authorities to review their software's source code.

Western technology companies, including Cisco, IBM and SAP, are acceding to demands by Moscow for access to closely guarded product security secrets in order to sell their products in Russia.