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This week
IN THE NEWS: Regulation of Internet of Things Devices to Protect Consumers, Telstra, Optus, Vodafone ready multifactor authentication, and more.
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The Internet of Things (IoT) has the potential to transform the way we live and work. But the growth of consumer IoT devices for the home poses serious threats to consumers’ security and privacy. This research identifies and analyses options for best practice regulation of IoT security and privacy. The report includes recommendations for reforming cyber security, consumer protection and data privacy law and regulation. This project was funded by a grant from the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN). [ACCAN]
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Australia’s major mobile carriers are getting close to using multi-factor authentication for SIM-related activities, ahead of new ACMA mobile customer verification rules that come into force at the end of this month. The ACMA is introducing new customer verification rules to try and tackle "SIM swap" frauds, in which customers lose control of their devices to scammers. [iTNews]
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Ombudsman Cynthia Gebert delivered a keynote address at the ACCC's 2022 National Consumer Congress. Ms Gebert spoke about the need for telecommunications to be recognised as an essential service, the mechanism to support changes to the sector and three recommendations to support the change. [TIO]
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Encrypted messaging apps should be subject to at least the same regulations and laws as the likes of Facebook and Google to help combat online extremism, a Victorian inquiry has heard. A group of Swinburne University academics appeared before the Victorian inquiry into far-right extremism on Wednesday. [InnovationAus]
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You may have encountered them in communicating online with telecommunication companies, banks, airlines and shopping sites. They are usually found in a little box-shaped icon that pops up in the lower right-hand corner of the screen, asking you to type a question. And some of the answers can feel quite human. So how do these chatbots engage with us in human-like ways? [Pursuit]
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Most companies that get hit by a cyberattack are likely to fall victim again – sometimes repeatedly – as many struggle to improve their cybersecurity strategy, even after incidents. According to research by cybersecurity company Cymulate, 39% of companies were hit by cybercrime over the past 12 months – and of those, two-thirds were hit more than once. Of those hit more than once, one in 10 fell victim to further cyberattacks 10 or more times. [ZDnet]
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The Telecommunications Service Provider (Customer Identity Authentication) Determination 2022 will come into effect on 30 June. The new rules will protect telco customers from fraud and identity theft. Over the next 2 weeks, please make sure you’ve familiarised yourself with the authentication rules. [ACMA]
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If you have received an email from Apple telling you your Apple ID has been suspended, think twice before clicking on any links. MailGuard has intercepted a phishing scam targeting Apple customers, with the subject line: “We have temporarily suspended use of this ID.” The sender name of the email shows that it’s from Apple, however the email is actually coming from a server not associated with Apple.
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Consumers in both urban and regional Australia who have fixed-line NBN services have seen a significant improvement in download speeds since November 2018, the ACCC’s latest Measuring Broadband Australia report shows. Urban areas (cities with a population of 10,000 people) saw an improvement in all hours download speeds from 85.7 per cent in the 2018 report to 98.2 per cent of plan speeds in February 2022, while regional areas also improved from 83.7 per cent to 95.2 percent of plan speeds. [ACCC]
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Australians lost over $205 million to scams between 1 January and 1 May, a 166 per cent increase compared to the same period last year, according to new data from Scamwatch. The true losses to scams are likely to be much higher, as our research shows that only around 13 per cent of people report their losses to Scamwatch. [ACCC]
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Tel: (02) 9288 4000
Email: media@accan.org.au
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Although we take care to direct subscribers to sites with accurate and reliable content, we advise that ACCAN is not responsible for the content within external sites and has no control over the views, services or information contained therein. Information contained on external sites may not necessarily reflect ACCAN's policy, standards or beliefs.
The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network's representation of residential and other consumers' interests in relation to telecommunications issues is made possible by funding provided by the Commonwealth of Australia under section 593 of the Telecommunications Act 1997. This funding is recovered from charges on telecommunications carriers.
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