### Issue 1471 - Wednesday 13th October, 2021

## In Today's Issue

- We've got a Ransomware Action Plan
- Eftpos dicks around with QR codes
- Bulk news drop for a busy day
- A nice man making nice videos about Apple accessories
- Cheap Google Nest Audio, CatchConnect SIM, Death Stranding Director's Cut, Fallout 4 GOTY, Dell 34" monitor

## The News

### We've got a Ransomware Action Plan

The Department of Home Affairs has come up with a Ransomware Action Plan "aimed at countering the rise in ransomware incidents". Under the plan, there will be a "specific mandatory ransomware incident reporting" program where businesses with over $10m in turnover will need to report if they've been hit by ransomware - but the report leaves out if the government needs to do the same if they're hit. They're also going to come up with a "standalone aggravated offence for cybercriminals seeking to target critical infrastructure" and will allow the cops to "track and seize or freeze" cryptocurrency. The 10-page plan is available as a PDF and Justin Warren has tweeted his insightful thoughts in a neat little thread.

### Eftpos dicks around with QR codes

Eftpos is rolling out a QR code payment system "before Christmas" it calls eQR. You get your phone, open an app, scan the QR code and boom, you've sent money. Eftpos CEO reckons "eQR will quickly become the QR equivalent of eftpos Tap & Pay on debit cards". Coles and Woolworths will be rolling it out soon. There's fuck all detail around the implementation, but I'm guessing eQR will be a very niche product for the small amount of people that either don't have an NFC enabled card on them or a smartphone with NFC enabled. The other features like loyalty schemes and digital receipts aren't that exciting. I reckon Eftpos should really be working with Stripe or whatever so eftpos cards can be used online for wayyy lower fees (like a 20c flat fee or something) compared to the status quo. That would be awesome.

### Bulk news drop for a busy day

- There's an Apple media event taking place on the 19th of October at 4AM (Melbourne/Sydney time). Maybe hold off buying a Mac for the next week or so. Rumour mill suggests an M1X SoC coming that's perfect for a 15" MBP.
- The Australian Space Agency announced that NASA wants it to build a "foundation services rover" for a future Moon mission no earlier than 2026 that'll collect lunar soil in preparation for a permanent human presence on the Moon.
- Surprise, surprise, it's easy to fake having a valid COVID vaccination certificate and venue check-in via the Service Victoria app. Vu Nguyen whipped one up in just 250 lines of code, pissweak hologram and all.
- Microsoft reckons they fended off the biggest DDoS attack ever - 2.4Tbps from over 70,000 sources in the Asia-Pacific region aimed at a European Azure customer. It only lasted 10 minutes, but Azure stood up like a champ.
- 1Password's got a new feature called Psst! that lets you safely share sensitive info (passwords, API keys, etc.) without having to send the details in plaintext. Looks like a classy solution to a common problem.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### A nice man making nice videos about Apple accessories

My friend Derek is the man when it comes to Apple accessories. He's been selling stuff for well over a decade now to various stores, including Apple themselves, but has gone more direct lately by making his own YouTube videos highlighting the latest gear to go with your Apple products. He only deals in quality stuff though, not the janky Aliexpress specials like I typically enjoy digging into. Derek's a classier guy than me. His most recent video shows off Nomad's fancy leather iPhone case with a built-in digital NFC business card. I kinda want that!

## Bargains

- Google Nest Audio - $124 at JB Hi-Fi
- CatchConnect 85GB 365 Day Plan Unlimited Talk & Text - $89 from Catch
- Death Stranding Director's Cut for PS5 - $58 at Harvey Norman
- Fallout 4 GOTY Edition for PC - $13.73 on Steam
- Dell 34" S3422DWG monitor (curved, VA panel, 3440x1440, 144Hz) - $549 from Dell

## The End

📻 Are Friends Electric? - The Dead Weather

😎 The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "@decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon.

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The Sizzle is created on Wathaurong land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present.​