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An international sting involving the FBI and the AFP has culminated in hundreds of arrests of organised crime figures in Australia and across the world. Operation Ironside, unveiled by police on Tuesday, hinged on a covert plan to take over a communications app called AN0M.
Criminal syndicates used AN0M – which they thought was secure – to exchange sensitive messages, photos and footage. But as cybersecurity expert David Tuffley explains, the app and the black-market phones hosting it were set up and monitored by police from the get-go. That gave police access to millions of messages involving murder plots, mass drug trafficking, gun distribution and more.
The bust, which has been hailed as the largest of its kind in Australia, had humble beginnings – hatched in 2018 when AFP and FBI officers shared a few beers. As Tuffley writes, it will no doubt trigger a new cat-and-mouse game, forcing criminals to regroup and arm themselves with next-level cyberstrategies to evade law enforcement.
In cyber issues of a different kind, if you couldn’t get onto your favourite website last night, you weren’t alone. Vast numbers of sites around the world suffered an outage, including the BBC, Pinterest, the Financial Times, Reddit and even The Conversation. As Paul Haskell-Dowland explains today, the outage was connected to a glitch at a California-based website service provider called Fastly. The problem lasted only an hour, but it was a
disconcerting reminder that the technology we rely on is far from foolproof.
And. finally, The Conversation today launches a new podcast. The first episode of Politics with Michelle Grattan, Word from The Hill covers the pandemic (of course), the Speaker’s efforts to bring order to the House, and Scott Morrison’s forthcoming trip to the G7. Listen in each week for a new, insightful take from one of Australia’s most respected political correspondents.
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Noor Gillani
Deputy Editor, Science and Technology
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Dean Lewins/AAP
David Tuffley, Griffith University
The AN0M app was programmed by law enforcement to allow 'back-door' access. This led to the retrieval of information that culminated in hundreds of search warrants.
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Shutterstock
Paul Haskell-Dowland, Edith Cowan University
To understand what happened, you need to know what a CDN (content delivery network) is, and how crucial they are to the smooth running of the internet.
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Mattz90/Shutterstock
Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
New tax office figures show only 2% of Australians earn more than $211,000 a year.
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A boy holds a poster in support of the Biloela Tamil family at a 2019 rally.
Joel Carrett/AAP
Mary Anne Kenny, Murdoch University; Nicholas Procter, University of South Australia
Three-year-old Tharunicaa Murugappan's hospitalisation has once again raised the plight of her family, who have been detained since 2018.
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
Michelle Grattan discusses politics with politics and society editor Amanda Dunn.
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Shutterstock
Thomas Mortlock, Macquarie University; Itxaso Odériz, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM); Nobuhito Mori, Kyoto University; Rodolfo Silva, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
New research looked at wave conditions over the past 40 years, and found wave power has increased since at least the 1980s, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere.
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Health + Medicine
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Nicholas Wood, University of Sydney
Australia is now rolling out the Pfizer vaccine to people aged under 50, with the 40-49 age group newly eligible. Here's what you can expect.
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Stephen Duckett, Grattan Institute
With more than 850 changes to Medicare on the cards, the system needs time to adjust. Hasty implementation may mean patients face higher gap fees.
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Arts + Culture
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John Willsteed, Queensland University of Technology
From legendary punk band The Saints to a current tour with drummer Jim White, Ed Kuepper has been making music for almost 50 years.
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Georgina Arnott, The University of Melbourne
Perth's City of Stirling, which honours James Stirling, is considering a name change. New research shows how Stirling’s family’s wealth was built on the back of slavery business.
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Education
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Penelope Baker, University of New England; Rosemary Callingham, University of Tasmania
The proposed maths curriculum would result in a deeper understanding of key concepts. It expects students to explain their maths reasoning rather than present their answer without justification.
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Sven Trenholm, University of South Australia
Why might maths students' performance suffer from relying on videos? A new study suggests we might be conditioned to watch video in a way that hinders the sort of thinking needed in maths.
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Cities
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Hao Wu, University of Sydney; David Levinson, University of Sydney
A global study of 117 cities finds Australian capitals have fairly poor access by car. Public transport, cycling and walking access is better than in the US, but not as good as in Europe and China.
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Margaret Brown, University of South Australia
While the road toll has come down over the decades, it's largely a result of fewer car occupants dying. Pedestrian deaths have barely changed for a decade, but they remain a road safety blind spot.
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Politics + Society
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
Australia is still pursuing the origin of COVID-19, with Scott Morrison strongly supporting President Joe Biden's efforts to get to the bottom of the outbreak.
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Sangeetha Pillai, UNSW
This important case because represents a rare litigation win for an asylum seeker. He doesn't automatically get the right to stay in Australia, but he's won damages — and that's unusual.
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Paula Gerber, Monash University
It's time we embrace the true meaning of the word 'reparations' — this isn't just about giving people money, it's about offering apologies and being accountable for previous mistakes.
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Science + Technology
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Tara Roberson, The University of Queensland
The focus of quantum science has shifted from theoretical physics to the advent of new technologies such as quantum computers. The benefits could be immense, but there are also potential pitfalls.
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Business + Economy
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Mladen Adamovic, Monash University
Discrimination against job applicants with ethnic minority, "foreign" names is still endemic.
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Jason Paul Mika, Massey University; Regina Scheyvens, Massey University
The Māori world view provides a viable framework for building a new tourism model that prioritises quality over quantity.
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Martie-Louise Verreynne, RMIT University; Anne-Laure Mention, RMIT University; George Feast, CSIRO; Rui Pedro Torres de Oliveira, Queensland University of Technology
Just 5% of Australian businesses have collaborated with university researchers, and the smaller the company, the less likely collaboration.
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Environment + Energy
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Meg Parsons, University of Auckland; Lara Taylor, Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research
Indigenous marine governance is experiencing a revival throughout Oceania, building on traditional worldviews that acknowledge connections between people and all parts of ocean ecosystems.
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Rupert Posner, ClimateWorks Australia; Simon Graham, ClimateWorks Australia
Rather than considering the job done, Tasmania should seize opportunities including renewable energy, net-zero industrial exports and forest preservation.
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Ian Wright, Western Sydney University
Don't share your toilet with your pet, or treat your toilet like a flushable garbage bin. It could lead to dangerous diseases, and clog sewer pipes.
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191 Boundary St, West End, Queensland, 4101, Australia — The Conversation
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Free webinar, Online, Victoria, 3000, Australia — Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG)
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7 week online course with interactive classes, Sydney, New South Wales, 2007, Australia — University of Technology Sydney
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