Tech News: 5 Things to Know in Australia Today

Tech News: 5 Things to Know in Australia Today

Good morning, we hope you enjoyed your super long weekend. Not much happened over the break, but here’s what piqued our interest.

 

1. 16,000 Tas gov documents caught up in breach

Starting in Tasmania and the state government is investigating the theft of data from third-party file transfer service, GoAnywhere MFT, following the release of data from the Department for Education, Children and Young People. Minister for Science and Technology Madeleine Ogilvie said the release of information was very concerning, with analysis and investigations ongoing. “We fully understand how concerning this development is to all Tasmanians, and we are already in the process of contacting anyone affected,” she said. “At this point in time, our advice is there are approximately 16,000 documents that have been released.”

2. SpaceX’s Starship is so close to flying

The SpaceX Starship rocket’s orbital test flight has been in the works for months, but it looks like it might finally be happening in a little over a week. On Monday, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on Twitter that Starship could launch during the third week of April. Starship has been declared “ready for launch,” Musk wrote in an earlier tweet on Sunday. The company completed a final flight readiness test over the weekend, which showed that its massive heavy-lift vehicle was ready to fly for the first time, Ars Technica reported. Read more over here.

3. Samsung employees leaked confidential data to ChatGPT

Samsung employees are in hot water after they reportedly leaked sensitive confidential company information to OpenAI’s ChatGPT on at least three separate occasions. The leaks highlight both the widespread popularity of the popular new AI chatbot for professionals and the often-overlooked ability of OpenAI to suck up sensitive data from its millions of willing users. It’s believed a Samsung employee copied the source code from a faulty semiconductor database into ChatGPT and asked it to help them find a fix. In a separate case, an employee shared confidential code to try and find a fix for defective equipment. Another employee reportedly submitted an entire meeting to the chatbot and asked it to create meeting minutes.

4. Monster Energy tried to make Pokémon change its name

The company behind Monster Energy drinks is infamous for claiming that others are infringing its trademarks. In fact, a new report states that company isn’t been above threatening beloved video games like Pokémon and Monster Hunter because it believes that consumers could confuse the games with Monster Energy drinks. A report published this week in Automaton, a Japanese media outlet, claims that Monster Beverage Corporation has complained over trademark registrations for Pokémon X, Pokémon Y, Pokémon Sun, and Pokémon Moon over the years, as well as the Monster Hunter brand and the video game Monster Hunter Generations. The mobile game Monster Strike didn’t escape Monster Beverage Corporation’s all-seeing eye, either. The company opposed the game’s full title and its abbreviation, “Monst.” Read more here.

5. Absolutely everything announced at Star Wars Celebration

There was plenty to celebrate at Star Wars Celebration Europe, which wrapped up in London overnight. The Lucasfilm lovefest wowed fans with all sorts of news, including when the franchise will finally return to movie theatres — and who’ll be directing the new movies. Plus, there were new trailers for Ahsoka, Visions, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and more. And, neither last nor least, we finally learned who will bring fan-favourite villain Thrawn to life. We’ve wrapped up EVERYTHING announced over here.

BONUS ITEM: Well there ya go.

See you tomorrow.


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