Tech News: 5 Things to Know in Australia Today

Tech News: 5 Things to Know in Australia Today

Good morning, hope you enjoyed your weekend. Here’s what went down in the tech world over the past few days.

 

1. Millions of dollars in crypto pulled out of thin air

Over the weekend, news emerged that the world’s largest crypto exchange was hacked. Binance estimates roughly $US100-$US110 million (around $135-150 million)-worth of its cryptocurrency BNB was taken by unknown hacker/s. Don’t worry if you’ve got an account with Binance, your crypto is safe, the hacker/s appear to have been able to convince the blockchain network to just produce more BNB out of thin air rather than stealing anyone’s particular crypto.

2. Toyota T-Connect app gets hacked

Still on hacks and people who have been using Toyota’s smartphone app may have had their personal information leaked. Around 296,000 pieces of customer information from the T-Connect service, which connects users to their cars, might have been leaked. Toyota released a statement warning its customers that they may be at risk of receiving spam, phishing scams, or unsolicited email messages to their email addresses.

3. Optus hack sparks myGov change

Last news in the hacking space and this time it’s back to the Optus data breach. On Friday, The Guardian reported that the Australian government is considering using myGov or its myGovID system to centralise digital identity authentication in the wake of the Optus data breach. The current myGov audit, it is understood, will now include looking into the possibility of whether myGov could be used to prevent people needing to present ID documents multiple times.

4. iPhone 14 doesn’t like rollercoaster

With the iPhone 14, Apple introduced a feature called ‘crash detection’, which is supposed to alert authorities when it detects you’ve been in a car accident. But as reported by The Wall Street Journal, the feature is having an unexpected side effect. The report says that it dials 911 on rollercoasters. When it calls law enforcement, it will play an audio message that alerts authorities you’ve been in a crash, and also provides them with your location.

5. Ye should step away from the internet

Kanye West, legally known as “Ye,” is rapidly running out of social media platforms to post his antisemitic content. On Sunday, Twitter locked Ye’s account after he posted an antisemitic tweet. Although Ye had not been active on Twitter since late 2020, he went over to Twitter on Saturday to blast Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg for “kicking him off” Instagram (his account was actually just restricted). While musicians aren’t usually our beat, this whole situation shows social media platforms are doing some things they promise to do.

BONUS ITEM: A man in the UK had to chase an Uber refund of £35,000 ($61,014) after the destination address was somehow set to “Australia”.

Have a great week.


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