Good morning, and a happy TGIF to you. Let’s get stuck in.
1. No TikTok ban planned, says Albo
The federal government has no current plans to ban TikTok in Australia, despite calls from the Opposition to do so, The Australian reports. “I think you’ve got to be pretty cautious, you’ve always got to have national security concerns front and centre but you also need to acknowledge that for a whole lot of people, this provides a way of them communicating and so we haven’t got advice at this stage to do that,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on WSFM.
2. Nissan discloses Australia and New Zealand data breach
After first investigating it in December, Nissan has now confirmed a data breach in Australia and New Zealand. “A malicious third party obtained unauthorised access to our local IT servers. We took immediate action to contain the breach, and promptly alerted the relevant government authorities, including the Australian and New Zealand national cyber security centres and privacy regulators,” Nissan said. The data breach impacts customers and current and former employees of Nissan, along with the company’s finance business for Mitsubishi, Renault, Skyline, Infiniti, LDV, and RAM. The company plans to inform 100,000 customers about the breach, and noted that about 10 per cent of customers likely had government identification (such as Medicare and drivers licence information) exposed, while the remaining 90 per cent had personal information, such as birth dates, salary information, or transaction statements, accessed.
3. No, you did not invent Bitcoin
Australian computer scientist Craig Wright has lost his case in a UK court, where he claimed that he was the creator of Bitcoin, under the name Satoshi Nakamoto, The Guardian reports. “Having considered all the evidence and submissions presented to me in this trial, I’ve reached the conclusion that the evidence is overwhelming,” Justice Mellor said. “First, that Doctor Wright is not the author of the Bitcoin white paper. Second, Doctor Wright is not the person who adopted or operated under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto in the period 2008 to 2011. Third, Doctor Wright is not the person who created the bitcoin system. And, fourth, he is not the author of the initial versions of the Bitcoin software.”
4. Stop saying ‘long COVID’, says Queensland CHO
Queensland Chief Health Officer John Gerrard has said that it’s time to stop referring to ‘long COVID’ as such, because it likely creates unnecessary fear, the ABC reports. New research suggests that the viral infections caused by COVID-19 are indistinguishable from other such infections, such as from flu or respiratory illnesses. “It [the term ‘long COVID’] implies that there is something particularly sinister and ominous about COVID-19,” Gerrard said. “A severe viral infection can be quite a significant inflammatory insult and, in some people, that clearly can cause persistent symptoms. But in the vast majority of people, recovery is the norm.”
5. South Australia satellite readies for launch
South Australia-built satellite Kanyini is almost ready for its launch in California in mid-2024, with the satellite passing its Environmental Stress Screening (at the Australian National University) for the harsh conditions of orbit. The satellite will provide data to governments and researchers, with a focus on climate and sustainability efforts in space. “The successful completion of this critical milestone brings us one step closer to realising our mission of seeing homegrown South Australian space technologies launched into low Earth orbit,” South Australian Deputy Premier and Minister for Defence and Space Industries Susan Close said.
BONUS ITEM: Hmm. Not sure how I feel about car horse armour.
“! Mood Lighting has expired” is an objectively funny thing to flash up on your screen, whether it points to a dystopian future or not. (Pinched from the ID3 FB group) pic.twitter.com/OFlzGmLYmI
— Nick Gibbs (@NickGibbs) March 13, 2024
Have a lovely day and better weekend!
Image: Nissan