**************************************************************************** ***************************<-=- QuadCon -=->******************************** **************************************************************************** *********************Aussie News At Its Finest!***************************** */*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/ */*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/ ============================================================================ February 2000 - Issue 3 ============================================================================ Whats In This Issue: # Y2k: We discuss its blow-out by the media and how much money and resources it wasted # Scam forces Telstra to fix 29,000 pay phones # The first sites removed due to the new censorship legislation # Fears of criminals stealing credit card information is the worst thing about online buying =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Y2k: We discuss its blow-out by the media and how much money and resources it wasted ----------------------------------------------------------------- The milleniun bug: what a pile of crap. Some people have dubbed the millenium bug as being one of the biggest scams ever. Lots of companies had to spend millions of dollars replacing equipment and updating equipment when it wasn't even needed. I think the millenium bug scam was called by the media. They completely made it like it would be huge destruction if people didnt try to fix y2k problems. Though it was the media's blowing out of the y2k bug the private sector must take some responsibility for wasting their money on the y2k bug. They listened to the media and paid the price. Everyone should now have learn that the media twists and blows out every story to make it popular in peoples eyes and to make people want to read it. I knew from the start that the y2k bug's damage would do minimal damage if any and if I owned a company I would have only spent money on making sure my computer turned over to the year 2000 and not back to the year 1900. This would be my only problem due to the millenium bug because if there was orders on say the 2nd of January, 2000 and that never came the order would never come. Now i'd like to hear some other people's opinions on the matter so please email armour@halcon.com.au =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Scam forces Telstra to fix 29,000 pay phones --------------------------------------------- Story thanks to AAP AAP TELSTRA is urgently modifying 80 per cent of its public pay phones after a scam was discovered involving a drinking straw and free phone calls around the world. Telstra would have the 29,000 vulnerable phones rectified soon, Telstra's public affairs manager Michael Herskope said yesterday. The Spanish-manufactured coin and phone card-operated Smart pay phone was phased into the Australian network from 1997. The scam potentially cost Telstra millions of dollars in unlimited STD and ISD calls since then, but Telstra can only speculate. "We have a rough idea, but that's not something we're really going to publicise,'' Herskope said. The scam was made public on the front page of Albury-Wodonga's The Border Morning Mail yesterday. The newspaper was told by perpetrators that the low-tech scam had been well known since the phones were introduced as part of a $100 million upgrade of the public phone national network. One source said some people may have learnt about it from the Internet. The paper accompanied a man to three public phones chosen at random and observed him make free calls, including one to New York. Telstra had initially dismissed the scam as a myth, the paper said. But Herskope denied that Teltra only learnt of the fraud from the country newspaper. "We've known about it for a little while,'' he said. "It's pretty hard to articulate weeks, days. I'm not sure how it was brought to our attention but it certainly was.'' He said rectifying the problem was a simple procedure. Without disclosing how the fraud was perpetrated, he said there was no design fault in the phone. "This particular fault will be closed off very shortly,'' he said. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The first sites removed due to the new censorship legislation ----------------------------------------------------------------- Story thanks to SIMON HAYES INTERNET censorship theory became reality last week, with the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) issuing takedown notices to the hosts of allegedly offensive Internet content. The ABA issued an unspecified number of interim takedown notices after receiving complaints via its online content hotline. The interim notices would remain in effect until the material had been assessed by the National Classification Board (NCB), said the ABA's manager for online services content regulation Stephen Nugent. The NCB would then issue a final takedown notice, he added. Mr Nugent said content hosts issued with the notices had been generally compliant. "We've had people ask why it's happened, because a lot are not aware of the scheme," he said. "But once it's explained to them, they understand. I wouldn't say they're happy, but they go away understanding why it's happening." The individual sites involved would not be named, he said. "We're not releasing details, because the purpose of the scheme is not to publish a list that might encourage people to visit (the sites)," he said. Mr Nugent said complaints had reached "double digits". "We're not being swamped, but there are a healthy number (of complaints)," he said. "We expect they will increase." =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Fears of criminals stealing credit card information is the worst thing about online buying ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Story thanks to MICHAEL McGUIRE FEAR of criminals stealing personal credit card details is one of the biggest hurdles for e-tailing to win mainstream acceptance in Australia, a new survey shows. Australians are more concerned with credit card security than any of the other nations surveyed by Ernst & Young for its annual Global Online Retailing report. Half of those surveyed cite the potential for stolen credit card information as the biggest drawback in online shopping. The next biggest disadvantage, for one in four people, is that they cannot see or feel the desired item. In the US, 53 per cent of people say the biggest concern is excessive shipping costs and only 19 per cent consider credit card security a problem. Ernst & Young national director for retail and consumer products Steve Ferguson said the concern about credit card fraud "reflects the early stages of growth" in online shopping. Mr Ferguson said the concern would lapse and customers would focus more on issues such as delivery times. This is the first time Ernst & Young has included Australia alongside the US, the UK, Canada, France and Italy in its survey. The survey recorded strong growth in e-tailing in all markets, and says Australia is ripe for swift development. Ernst & Young surveyed 100 consumers and 136 companies with e-commerce capabilities in Australia, finding the typical Internet shopper was male, 39.7 years old, university educated and with an income of almost $100,000. Among the businesses, it found 72 per cent of e-tailers sold products and services outside of Australia. The global average was less than 50 per cent. Ernst & Young consulting lead partner for retail products Matthew Lang said 2000 was likely to bring many more alliances struck between e-tailers. Companies such as Wine Planet and Greengrocer.com.au were already sharing distribution arrangements and other companies were likely to follow their lead. Mr Lang said the alliances would help e-tailers build critical mass more quickly and therefore contain distribution and other business costs. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Synopsis -------- The purpose of this newsletter is to 'digest' current events of interest that affect the Australian online underground. This mainly includes coverage of general security issues and things that will affect the Australian it industry. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Special Thanks --------------- Halcon : http://www.halcon.com.au Landfill : http://landfill.bit-net.com Nebula : http://neblula.tne.net.au =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Support Us ---------- Quadcon is after some very talented writers to join the group. We are after around 2 or 3 writers that can write articles for monthly Quadcon issues. If you think your good enough for Quadcon see the contact section below. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Contact ------- I can be contacted on the email address armour@halcon.com.au =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Copyright 2000 QuadCon "Anything is possible it just takes a few extra phone calls"