Good morning. It’s the last Friday before the end of the month and the 50th ‘5 Things‘ post. To celebrate, we’ve got five tech stories for you. Wild, we know.
1. Aussie Broadband is back online
At around 3:49 pm yesterday, Aussie Broadband went down in Victoria and New South Wales, cutting off NBN access for customers. Two hours later, the internet provider announced that most services were back up and running normally, though customers in Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania may continue to encounter issues.
We have some ideas on what could have happened…
– Sarah pic.twitter.com/zEftgqniVL— Aussie Broadband (@Aussie_BB) October 27, 2022
2. Another ransomware attack
The Australian is reporting that a large strata management firm (SSKB) has become the latest local company to fall victim to a ransomware attack. It’s understood the criminals claim to have stolen 200GB of data. Apparently, the company has eight days to hand over a ransom before the data is published. Per the report, the hack seems to have compromised the company’s operating systems. Its phone lines are down, and its website is displaying a notice that it is experiencing “some phone and technical issues”.
3. Sydney teen to plead guilty to alleged Optus scam offences
A Sydney teen accused of using compromised Optus data to scam money out of customers has said that he will plead guilty. The AFP alleged that the teen sent 93 text messages to Optus customers demanding that $2,000 be sent to a bank account. Allegedly, the teen threatened that the data would be used in financial crimes if targeted customers did not send the money. The teen will return to court on November 8.
4. Web5 just dropped
Jack Dorsey, the founder of the Twitter, has posted that “web5 is happening”, attaching a link to the new app Zion v2. The app includes an interesting pitch, putting forward the idea of a world where you could log into any website without an account, switch to any streaming service and keep your preferences, and leave social media while also keeping all of your connections. The app will be built in “Web5”, which hasn’t really been properly defined by the Zion v2 app, but it will include payments on the Bitcoin Lightning Network. The future is now?
web5 is happening https://t.co/DESDogeXwA
— jack (@jack) October 27, 2022
5. Elon wants to use Twitter ‘to help humanity’
Staying on Twitter, and The Guardian is reporting that Elon Musk wants to use Twitter to “help humanity”, and there are fears among advertisers that he will restore Donald Trump’s account. This followed months of uncertainty on whether or not the multi-billion dollar deal would close, and now his takeover of Twitter is expected to be sealed before its deadline of 5 pm Friday (GMT-4, which is about 8 am on Saturday in Australia).
BONUS ITEM: Meet the “Sisters of the Valley”, AKA the Weed Nuns.
Have a lovely weekend.