The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) has issued a joint warning alongside nearly two dozen partner agencies about Russian-linked hackers targeting critical Australian industries. The ASD has highlighted poorly secured network devices as easy targets for hackers linked to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). It says cyber actors operating for the FSB are targeting critical infrastructure…
Tens of billions of dollars in investment, and Australia’s ambition to become a global AI power, could hinge on a law passed before humans walked on the moon, the Sydney Opera House opened, or Gough Whitlam became prime minister. Australia’s copyright law was written in 1968 for an era of black-and-white television, film and radio….
It is 11:45pm on a Sunday night, and an anonymous woman has just posted in a Facebook group. Not long after, men start replying, offering to help. What she has asked for is sperm, and now the rest of the conversation has moved to her DMs. Welcome to world of online semen donation. The number…
When you are preparing for a World Cup semifinal against the greatest player to ever live, there is little room for distractions. After decades of torment when it comes to major tournaments involving its men’s football team, England fans are rightly jumpy at the slightest hint of discomfort. The Three Lions have put together a…
From the tropics of the Top End to the red dirt of Central Australia, the Northern Territory seems a world away from the rapid development associated with artificial intelligence. But the NT could soon be at the centre of one of the world’s most controversial industries, with 12 data centres proposed for Australia’s most remote…
When it comes to AI, Australia is a spectator at a UFC cage fight between the United States and China, except the spectators at this event are all inside the cage with the combatants, not safely in the stands. China is flooding the world with cheap, very capable AI models, trying to destroy the business…
A Four Corners investigation has discovered serious deficiencies in the nation’s housing affordability schemes, with an analysis finding rentals in Australia’s most populous states too expensive for people who need them most. The analysis of about two months of affordable rental listings in New South Wales and Victoria also found some properties on offer were…
When Julie Aldridge’s mosaic was bought by an international client in 2013, it seemed like an unlikely success story. The artist, from Port Lincoln, South Australia, had originally created the Sunset Wave design for an exhibition at the Barossa Regional Gallery. It did not sell. “There were no buyers, so I just kept it at…
Growing up in Sydney’s west, there was something Fernando Benavides always felt he was missing. Like many others, he had to move closer to the city in search of it. “You don’t have that access, whether it’s transport, or music venues or bars … you’re isolated,” he said. “We lack the kind of spaces where…
Naima Ali Farah is having her make-up done. It’s an ordinary scene at this cosmetic store in Melbourne’s northern suburbs but it doesn’t feel ordinary for Naima. “It’s something that I’ve been dreaming to have when I get to safety,” Naima tells Australian Story. “Just feel like a woman again and have everything a woman…