Issue 2270 - Thursday 13 February, 2025

Good news! Delivery rates are back to normal so we can assume it was probalby because of email hosts not liking me writing about government website p*rn. Also, individual forum posts for each email topic have returned, so come post with us - CW

In Today’s Issue

The News

You can be sanctioned for hosting hacked data now

Australia has slapped sanctions on a Russian web host and affiliated individuals for hosting the data of 9.7 million Australians stolen from Medibank (Foreign Minister). This is the first time Australia has sanctioned people for providing the infrastructure for a cyberattack. The host Zservers also ignored takedown requests and legal complaints so they were clearly not oblivious. Our dear leaders also announced that we would join the US and UK in sanctioning notorious ransomware group LockBit who were reportedly responsible for an astounding one in five of Australian ransomware incidents in 2022-23 (Information Age). In other hacking news, Samoa has blamed Chinese state-backed hacking group APT40 for a series of cyberattacks (ABC News) and after Australia and a few other countries called out the group last year (Cyber.gov.au).

This has received almost zero attention but Australia has also been reportedly targeted by a Russian state actor hacking group according to Microsoft researchers (Microsoft) who called it the “BadPilot campaign”. I’m no marketing expert, but I don’t think it’s a great idea to dub a hacking group something very similar to my flagship AI branding.

NBN’s LEO plans

Our national internet company is “well progressed” into an investigation into low earth orbit (LEO) satellite providers that it hopes to work with, the company’s CEO says (AFR, $). For context: NBN’s existing satellite program Sky Muster is set to shut down by 2032 and it has been looking into LEO companies to pick up the slack and get rid of some cable connections. A network of LEOs seems to be the way to go because they provide higher speeds and are more reliable than Sky Muster, although coverage can be spottier. TPG has had a go at NBN Co for these plans (The Australian, $) but I can’t really see why more competition would be a problem for the average punter. Meanwhile, NBN Co is connecting premises to fibre faster than before and even quicker than predicted (ITNews) because, in part, people on shitty copper lines are lining up to upgrade. Also on telcos: watchdog ACMA is consulting on some small changes to rules around managing outages which would include requiring telcos to communicate about coverage problems during natural disasters (ACMA). Seems like a no-brainer to me.

In defence of Adobe, kinda

I know Adobe isn’t a popular company for a variety of reasons, but I thought I’d quickly mention them since it has dropped a new AI model that transforms images into videos (TechRadar) which is fine, I guess.

Outside of the subscription pricing and a controversy based on what the company says was a misunderstanding that it was going to train AI on all customers’ content (Adobe), there are two good things going for the company. Firstly, Adobe claims it only trains AI on the content that’s been sold or licensed to it (WIRED, $) unlike every other AI company which stole the entire internet for their models. Secondly, I really like their Content Credentials (Adobe). The company led a coalition establishing a standard and sharing software that lets people watermark their images and other content to provide information about where it came from and how it was made. I’d like to see more organisations and products support this, and use technology like this, to help us all figure out what’s real and what’s not.

Oh, Also

What does it sound like when a sub implodes?

It’s not often that I have an emotional reaction to audio — let alone the mere visual of the sound wave — but I was saddened when I saw what is believed to be a recording of the 2023 implosion of the OceanGate Titan sub. The recording was released by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) last week.

I know there were a lot of memes and jokes about the hubris of the billionaire who died in the sub, but my feelings about it turned when I read about the other passengers, including the billionaire’s son who apparently really didn’t want to go aboard.

Anyway, if you’re a sicko who would like to listen to it, it’s here haha (Defense Visual Information Distribution Service).

Bargains

Electrical & electronics

Computing

Mobile

The End

😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday afternoon. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.

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The Sizzle is created on Gadigal 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.