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ITnews Cloud Covered Breakfast Summit Heads to Sydney
The iTnews Cloud Covered Breakfast Summit is moving from Perth to Sydney on June 4, where senior technology leaders will examine how public cloud is evolving to support AI workloads. Powered by Microsoft and Dicker Data, the event will focus on building AI‑ready data environments, architectural best practices, and cloud‑native security. Organisers stress that data integration and governance now outweigh pure migration as the primary challenge. Limited seats underscore the exclusive networking opportunity for decision‑makers.
Superloop Puts Functional Separation Bid to ACCC
Superloop has applied to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for approval of a joint functional separation undertaking following its $165 million (≈ $109 million USD) acquisition of Lynham Networks. The proposal would split Lynham into a wholesale‑only network provider while keeping...
Wireless Broadband Alliance Claims Wi-Fi Security on a Par with Cellular
The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) released a new Wi‑Fi security framework that it says puts Wi‑Fi on equal footing with cellular networks in terms of security. The guidance consolidates standards such as WPA3, OpenRoaming (Passpoint) and RadSec, covering authentication, encryption,...
Fintel Alliance Starts Planning Its Next-Gen Analytics Hub
Australia’s Fintel Alliance – a coalition of banks, regulators, police and gambling operators – is redesigning its collaborative analytics hub (CAH) to handle larger, real‑time financial‑crime monitoring. The existing hub, first deployed in 2024, proved its concept by uncovering hidden...
Eventbrite's New Owner Cuts Staff After Takeover
Italian tech firm Bending Spoons completed its March acquisition of Eventbrite, valuing the ticket‑selling platform at roughly $11 billion. Within weeks, the new owner cut a large portion of the U.S. workforce and rolled out product upgrades aimed at faster event creation,...
Dead Cars Tell Tales by Storing Data That's Never Wiped
Security researchers at Quarkslab dissected a telematics control unit from a salvaged BYD Seal and found that the device stores raw GPS logs for the vehicle's entire lifespan. The data, kept on unencrypted NAND memory, revealed the car’s journey from...
Optus Strengthens Spectrum Strategy Expertise
Optus has hired Golnar Khomami, a former Telstra spectrum strategist, as senior director of network technology standardisation. Khomami will report to Kent Wu and lead Optus's engagement with international spectrum standards bodies. The move follows a series of senior tech...
SE Qld Councils to Collaborate on Common Data, ID Foundations
South East Queensland’s 12 mayors released a collaborative digital plan that sets a roadmap for foundational digital infrastructure by 2035. The immediate focus is on building a common data environment, a regional digital identity system, and upgraded connectivity to enable...
St Vincent's Group Chief Digital Officer Leaves After over Four Years
St Vincent’s Health Australia’s group chief digital officer, Michelle Fitzgerald, is leaving after more than four years. Her tenure saw the rollout of Meditech’s electronic medical record across ten private hospitals and the launch of a self‑service analytics platform. The departure...
NDIS Commission to Have a New Intelligent Risk Engine by August
The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission will roll out the core capabilities of an intelligent risk engine by August, as part of its four‑year, $160 million AUD (≈$105 million USD) Data and Regulatory Transformation (DART) program. The decision‑support tool will generate explainable...
Australian Payments Plus Continues "Operating Model Harmonisation"
Australian Payments Plus (AP+) has consolidated its IT, risk and customer service functions onto a single ServiceNow instance, creating a unified digital front door for its three core businesses—BPAY Group, eftpos and NPP Australia. The move merged previously separate ServiceNow...
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The Death of Standing Privilege in the Age of AI Agents
Privileged Access Management (PAM) teams have reduced standing privileges, yet identity‑related breaches still affect 74% of organizations. A new survey of 200 CISOs reveals that 86% do not enforce policies for AI identities, only 17% treat them like human users,...
Microsoft Says New Windows Recall Bypass Isn't a Vulnerability
Microsoft defended its Windows 11 Recall utility after researcher Alexander Hagenah released a tool that can extract decrypted screenshots and metadata by injecting a DLL into the AIXHost.exe process. The bypass works from a standard logged‑in user account and does not...
Bendigo Bank Rebuffs Pressure to Reveal Staff Impact of Outsourcing
Australian lender Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has signed long‑term outsourcing contracts with Infosys (seven years) and Genpact (six years) to shift IT and process‑optimisation work offshore. The Finance Sector Union argues the deals could affect up to 1,000 staff across...
Citigroup Says AI Helps Speed Account Openings and Systems Upgrades
Citigroup is leveraging artificial intelligence to accelerate account opening and modernize legacy systems, cutting document review time to 15 minutes. Head of technology Tim Ryan says AI automates data migration, coding and testing, helping retire outdated software. The bank is...
Rest Super Simplifies Staff Access to IT, HR and Information
Rest Super, Australia’s fast‑growing superannuation fund, has rolled out ServiceNow as a unified front‑door portal for IT, HR and information services. The platform supports a workforce that has expanded from about 200 staff five years ago to roughly 1,100 employees...
Why AI, Sovereignty and Visibility Are Redefining Cyber Strategy: Infotrust
Infotrust executives warn that data sovereignty, AI governance, and visibility are reshaping cyber strategy as geopolitical tensions and rapid AI adoption intensify risk. They highlight the rise of "shadow AI"—unsanctioned AI tools used by employees—while noting that vulnerability exploitation windows...
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Don’t Wait for 2027 – Make Your Smart Product Security Visible Now
Australia is introducing a national security label for smart devices, slated for a 2027 launch, with an industry pilot beginning in October 2026. The label will provide a clear, comparable security credential at the point of sale, shifting security from...
Cambodian Parliament Passes Landmark Cybercrime Law
Cambodia's parliament approved its first cybercrime law targeting scam centres that have defrauded international victims of billions. The legislation prescribes prison terms of two to ten years and fines up to $250,000 for large‑scale operations. It also criminalises money‑laundering, data...
AI-Assisted Fraud Makes Big Debut in FBI's Cybercrime Stats
The FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Complaint Centre report introduced AI‑assisted fraud as a distinct category, documenting $893 million in losses. Overall cybercrime losses topped $20 billion, a 26 percent rise from 2024, with investment scams leading at $8.6 billion. AI‑generated content fueled business‑email‑compromise, voice‑cloning,...
ATO Adds In-App Call Verification to Stop Scams
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has introduced a new in‑app “verify call” feature that lets taxpayers confirm whether a phone call claiming to be from the ATO is authentic within 30 seconds. The tool, available on iOS and Android, pushes...
CBA Onboards Customers with NFC Scans of ePassports
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has launched a fully operational onboarding system that reads ePassport NFC chips to verify new customers. Since its January rollout, more than 2,700 users have completed the process, which can be finished in as little...
WaterNSW to Move on Generative AI
WaterNSW is embedding generative AI to accelerate its digital agenda, focusing on application design and customer engagement. The authority will pilot Pega GenAI Blueprint, a low‑code tool that can shrink months‑long prototyping cycles to weeks. It is also testing Pega’s Knowledge Buddy virtual...
WA Local Gov Entity Lost $350,000 in Phishing Attack
A Western Australian council lost approximately US$231,000 after a phishing attack altered a supplier’s bank details in its finance system. The incident is one of 14 case studies in the WA Office of the Auditor General’s 2025 Local Government Information...
Telstra Overruled in Mobile Coverage Claims Stoush
Australia’s regulator ACMA confirmed its draft standard that classifies signal strengths below –115 dBm as ‘no coverage’, forcing carriers to label maps with four tiers: good, moderate, usable and no coverage. The rule means Telstra could have up to one million...
APRA Pulls Data Submission System After Security Pentest
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) decommissioned its legacy Direct To APRA (D2A) data‑submission system after a routine penetration test on March 19 uncovered unnamed vulnerabilities. The regulator took the system offline on March 20 and urged all banks, insurers and superannuation funds to...
New ACMA Rules to Make Telcos More Accountable for Outages
Australian regulator ACMA will enforce new network‑outage transparency rules from 30 June 2026, requiring telcos to publish a historic register of major unplanned disruptions resolved after 31 March 2026. Providers must disclose twenty specific data points, including outage type, duration, geographic breakdown and affected...
Councils Push for Federal Shared Security Centre Funding
Australian local councils are lobbying the federal government for shared security operations centres (SOCs) to bolster cyber defences. Ahead of the ALGA national assembly, identical motions call for $10 million AUD (about $6.6 million USD) to fund SOC infrastructure, 24/7 monitoring, SIEM...
NAB Is Co-Designing a SIEM with Databricks
National Australia Bank (NAB) has joined four other design partners to co‑design Lakewatch, a new security information and event management (SIEM) platform built on Databricks. The solution, currently in private preview, leverages the bank’s existing Databricks‑on‑AWS data lake, Ada, to...
Telstra to Add Flink to Its Event Streaming Capabilities
Telstra announced it will integrate the Apache Flink stream‑processing engine with its existing Kafka‑based event streaming platform, launching the project in the coming months. The pairing, delivered through Confluent’s managed services, aims to boost real‑time analytics across Telstra’s network observability...
LEO Satellite Operators Could Be Beyond Australian Data Laws
Australia’s Cyber Security Centre, together with international partners, warned that commercial low‑Earth‑orbit (LEO) satellite operators can deliver connectivity to Australian users without a local footprint, leaving data outside the reach of domestic privacy laws. The advisory highlights that LEO constellations...
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ITnews Executive Retreats: Navigating Leadership in the Age of Data and AI
The iTnews Executive Retreat returns on 28‑29 May 2026 at Château Élan in the Hunter Valley, shifting its focus from security to data and artificial intelligence. Building on the success of its inaugural security edition, the retreat gathers senior technology, data and AI...
Macquarie University Appoints Interim AI Chief
Macquarie University has named Richard Watts‑Seale, the technical lead of its AI transformation program, as interim head of AI after Phil Laufenberg departed for a pro‑vice‑chancellorship at La Trobe University. The university assures that its AI initiatives, including the in‑house generative...
Orica Builds a Conversational AI Assistant for HR
Orica has launched a conversational AI assistant that sits atop its fragmented HR technology stack, using ServiceNow's MoveWorks overlay and Now Assist. The tool integrates SAP SuccessFactors, Dayforce, SharePoint and other systems, delivering natural‑language, multilingual support through Microsoft Teams. A proof‑of‑concept...
Gov Proposes Disclosure Delay for Most Serious Cyberattacks
Australia is consulting on new rules that would allow a temporary, roughly 30‑day delay in publicly disclosing serious cyber‑attacks on critical‑infrastructure operators, including ASX‑listed firms. The proposal aims to give entities time to mitigate threats without compromising national security or...
ACMA to Tap CTO-as-a-Service to Help Architect Core Modernisation
The Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) is launching a CTO‑as‑a‑service contract to provide on‑demand technology leadership for its core modernisation programme. The arrangement, slated to close in March 2026, will supplement internal capabilities and report to chief information and...
Australia's Critical Infrastructure Security Laws "Toothless"
An independent review has labelled Australia’s Security of Critical Infrastructure (SoCI) Act “toothless,” arguing that its penalties are treated as a routine cost rather than a deterrent. The review urges a shift from paperwork‑centric compliance to a penalty‑based risk‑management regime...
Phillip Britt Exits Aussie Broadband Board
Phillip Britt, co‑founder of Aussie Broadband, resigned from the board after nearly 18 years, ending his formal influence over the challenger telco. His departure coincides with the launch of Rural Fibre Co, a $10 million (≈US$6.6 million) regional fibre venture that is...
Rodd & Gunn Eyes Headless Ecommerce
Australian luxury retailer Rodd & Gunn is evaluating a headless ecommerce strategy to accelerate its global digital rollout. The company, now operating stores in 13 countries and a new restaurant line, currently launches sites in about three months using a...
ATO to Upgrade Its IBM Mainframe Again in Quiet $104.8m Deal
The Australian Taxation Office has signed a $104.8 million AUD (~$69 million USD) amendment to its IBM mainframe modernization program, raising the total contract to $192.5 million AUD (~$127 million USD). The deal extends the program by three years to mid‑2031 and adds an...
Yarra Valley Water Betting on AI to Predict Asset Failures
Yarra Valley Water is piloting a generative‑AI system to predict failures across its water‑supply network, focusing on a subset of roughly 5,000 critical sensors out of millions. The proof‑of‑concept, led by cloud and DevOps chief Murali Manohar Shunmugaraja, could be...
Gov to Explore "Future Connectivity Between Identity Exchanges"
The Australian government is commissioning a detailed mapping of its Digital ID System (AGDIS) to evaluate how it can interconnect with private‑sector identity exchanges. The effort follows a closed procurement that will produce diagrams, risk assessments, and technical options ahead...
NAB Readies to Scale AI-Based Customer Interaction
National Australia Bank (NAB) is preparing to scale its AI‑driven "customer brain," a platform that now incorporates 3,500 adaptive models and is used by 90 percent of its divisions. The system can generate more than 400 next‑best actions for each client,...
Triple Zero Guardian to Ponder Minimum Mobile Network Performance Rules
The Australian government will launch a comprehensive review of the triple zero (000) emergency‑calling framework, asking the designated custodian to consider minimum mobile network performance standards. The move follows two major Optus outages, one of which caused emergency‑call failures linked...
CBA Builds Two AI Agents to Boost Cyber Defences
Commonwealth Bank of Australia has deployed two custom AI agents to augment its cyber‑defence operations. The threat‑hunt agent automates up to 70% of routine investigations, shrinking a multi‑day analysis to roughly 30 minutes and even launching hunts overnight. A second...
Optus Appoints New OSS Chief
Optus has named former Wipro partner Wajid Baryalai as head of its Operational Systems and Support (OSS) division, a move that underpins a newly created unit focused on network resilience. The appointment coincides with an accelerated plan to insource network‑management...
Coles Sets up Standard Data Streaming Platform Groupwide
Coles Group has deployed an enterprise‑wide data streaming platform built on Confluent Cloud, unifying its real‑time data pipelines under a single Apache Kafka foundation. Previously, isolated event‑streaming stacks created silos, inconsistent models, and governance challenges. The new "enterprise event platform"...
Griffith University Takes Control of Its Student Recruitment
Griffith University has rolled out Salesforce’s Agentforce Education cloud across its contact centre, marketing communications and advancement units to replace a fragmented martech stack. By insourcing the student‑recruitment contact centre and consolidating phone, email, web‑form and chat into a single...
Patchy Wi-Fi at ACCC Despite Access Point Expansion
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) disclosed ongoing Wi‑Fi performance problems across its nine‑office footprint despite a recent rollout of 60 new wireless access points, bringing the total to 168. The issues include connection dropouts, weak signal strength, and...
Superloop's AI Push Continues with Billing System Project
Superloop is consolidating its legacy billing platforms into Aria Systems' cloud‑based Billing Cloud, unifying consumer, business and wholesale divisions. The carrier now serves 435,000 subscribers, adding 49,000 new consumer customers in H1 FY26. The new platform integrates Allegro AI‑assisted auditing,...