Atlassian's IPO; CryptoWall 4.0 emerges; Driverless cars headed for NSW

Atlassian, one of the Australian tech industry’s most celebrated success stories, has filed a registration statement with the US SEC for an initial public offering (IPO) of Class A ordinary shares.

The company did not reveal the number of shares to be offered in the IPO, nor did it reveal the price range for the offering.

Atlassian intends to list its common stock on the NASDAQ Global Market with the ticker symbol “TEAM”.

The software development and collaboration tools company began its life in Sydney in 2002, and now has eight offices in six countries around the globe. It boasts customer stories from companies like Twitter, CSIRO, Audi and NASA.

According to the SMH, Atlassian revealed earlier this week that its annual revenue had reached US$320 million (about AU$452 million).

The SMH cited Chad Padowitz, a Melbourne-based investment officer, as saying the buzz around Atlassian’s IPO could increase the chances of other Australian tech companies having an impact in the States.

“Any company that can be born in Australia and take it to the level of success that [Atlassian] appears to be doing here opens up the road for other Australian companies to follow suit,” Padowitz was quoted as saying.

The investment firms Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Morgan Stanley & Co. will act as lead joint book-running managers for the IPO. A copy of the IPO’s preliminary prospectus may be obtained from Goldman, Sachs & Co. via email at prospectus-ny@ny.email.gs.com.

According to the AFR, Atlassian’s share structure will mean that the company’s founders will keep control over the company’s direction.

“The dual-class structure of our ordinary shares has the effect of concentrating voting control with certain shareholders, in particular, our co-­chief executive officers and their affiliates, which will limit your ability to influence the outcome of important transactions, including a change in control,” the AFR quoted the IPO filing document as saying.

CryptoWall 4.0 ransomware emerges

A new and more difficult-to-detect version of the CryptoWall ransomware has appeared, according to cybersecurity company Heimdal Security.

Andra Zaharia, security specialist at Heimdal Security, documented the new strain — CryptoWall 4.0 — on the company’s blog.

“It includes a modified protocol that enables it to avoid being detected, even by second-generation enterprise firewall solutions. This lowers detection rates significantly compared to the already successful CryptoWall 3.0 attacks,” Zaharia wrote.

The new strain also encrypts file names, as well as data contained within victims’ files.

Like the previous version of the ransomware, CryptoWall 4.0 uses TOR to direct victims to ransom payment instructions.

“This way, they can ransom their data by paying for a decryption key in a way that doesn’t compromise the anonymity of the attackers,” Zaharia wrote.

The outlook seems bleak if you do get infected. According to the security specialist, “Once your data is encrypted, unfortunately, there’s not much you can do. The encryption is very strong and most likely unbreakable.”

That said, Zaharia added, “Paying the ransom does not guarantee that you will get the decryption key and we do not recommend paying the ransom.”

More information — including details on preventing such an infection — is available at the Heimdal blog.

NSW Government to push for driverless cars

The NSW Government will take steps to bring driverless cars to NSW roads, according to a ZDnet story.

Anthony Roberts, the NSW Minister for Industry, Resources, and Energy, reportedly declared he had “fallen in love” with a self-driving Tesla model S car after being taken for a spin in the vehicle.

“Certainly we’ll do everything we can in this government to ensure that we roll out more and more” cars like the Tesla model S, ZDnet quoted Roberts as saying.

Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham, who also tested the car, reportedly said: “I think all sides of politics can see the benefits and get behind this. Once you’ve experienced the vehicles you realise there’s no going back — they are the future.”

Image courtesy Google.