Industry News
Victorian start-ups receive funding boost
An additional $4.9 million will be provided by LaunchVic for the Victorian start-up sector. [ + ]
Ransomware shuts guests out of hotel rooms
In two high-profile incidents, attackers shut down an Austrian hotel's entire IT system and ransomware infected 70% of Washington DC police's public CCTV video recorders. [ + ]
180,000 servers still vulnerable to Heartbleed
Despite a fix being available for nearly two years, around 180,000 servers worldwide are still vulnerable to the Heartbleed SSL exploit, including several thousand in Australia. [ + ]
SMEs pessimistic about outlook for 2017
Despite high dissatisfaction with the government's economic management and a weak economic outlook, many SMEs believe that technology is the key to renewed business confidence. [ + ]
Australian employers must lead the way in digital era
The majority of Australian employees believe their employers are responsible for creating innovative work cultures, according to new research by BMC. [ + ]
US branch of CSIRO to open in 2017
The CSIRO will be opening an office in San Francisco, taking Australian scientific innovation to the United States. [ + ]
NSW gets new Innovation Minister in reshuffle
The NSW Liberal-National government's major cabinet reshuffle will see Hornsby MP Matt Kean take over from Ryde MP Victor Dominello as Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation. [ + ]
Japanese Terra Drone sets up presence in Queensland
Queensland has been selected as the location of a major Japanese drone company's regional office. [ + ]
Tax Practitioners Board issues cloud services guidance
The Tax Practitioners Board has informed tax practitioners of their professional obligations covering the use of cloud computing, including seeking permission from each client to share their data with a cloud provider. [ + ]
95% of IT leaders are adopting DevOps philosophy
Nearly every IT professional quizzed for a recent survey conducted by B2B ratings company Clutch stated that they have or will embrace DevOps philosophy — even though they could not agree on a definition. [ + ]
Autonomous shuttle on trial in Christchurch
The first trial of a driverless shuttle has begun at Christchurch International Airport. [ + ]
Many Android VPN apps are not secure: CSIRO
An analysis by the CSIRO of 283 Android VPN apps on Google Play found that many contain malware, third-party tracking libraries and code that raises a host of other security and privacy concerns. [ + ]
Start-ups supported by new laws in WA
New laws in WA will modernise the regulation of limited partnerships and allow for companies that develop entrepreneurial ideas into new products and services to become eligible for tax concessions. [ + ]
Microsoft fends off appeal in foreign data case
A US appeals court has declined to reconsider an earlier verdict holding that Microsoft does not need to provide US law enforcement agencies with access to emails stored on overseas servers. [ + ]
ATO appoints PwC to review December outage
The ATO has engaged PwC to conduct a thorough review into the cause of its December ICT storage system outage, as well as any steps that can be taken to prevent a recurrence. [ + ]
