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Tenth Annual AusCERT Conference Kicks Off

Posted by samzenpus on from the gentlemen-start-your-computers dept.

lukehopewell1 writes "The tenth annual AusCERT (Australian Computer Emergency Response Team) conference kicks off today in Queensland, Australia, touting appearances from Microsoft, Telstra, Rio Tinto and the founder of Kaspersky Labs, Eugene Kaspersky. You can watch a video wrap-up of AusCERT conferences in the years gone by, complete with laughs, interviews, old-timey newscasts and that time IBM gave out USB drives laden with malware."

27 comments

  1. Wow by SquirrelDeth · · Score: 0

    I'm completely dumbfounded I can't even think of anything rude to say.

    1. Re:Wow by socceroos · · Score: 1

      There's plenty of stuff you can suggest about Australia's heritage that gets under Aussie skin.

    2. Re:Wow by mug+funky · · Score: 1

      not really... we revel in that shit.

      just look at Kath and Kim.

    3. Re:Wow by syousef · · Score: 2

      I'm completely dumbfounded I can't even think of anything rude to say.

      AAAahhhh your Australian Mother's Certficate's been compromised, and you can't implement RSA worth a damn!

      --
      These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
    4. Re:Wow by socceroos · · Score: 1

      Yeah, funny show. I'm more talking about being called a bunch of crims discarded from the England elite. Think Ashes.

    5. Re:Wow by Chuck+Chunder · · Score: 2

      I'm more talking about being called a bunch of crims discarded from the England elite

      I can't imagine an Australian being the least bit offended by that.

      Think Ashes

      Being reminded of an Ashes will likely rankle though.

      --
      Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
    6. Re:Wow by LordLucless · · Score: 1

      No, there's just plenty of stuff that yanks think gets under Aussie's skins. Most Aussie's would rather be descended from crim's than England's inbred tea-party set.

      --
      Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
    7. Re:Wow by RyuuzakiTetsuya · · Score: 1

      Your hashing algorithm isn't worth it's salt.

      --
      Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
    8. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Most Aussie's would rather be descended from crim's than England's inbred tea-party set.

      Agreed, that or American, don't know which one would be worse.

  2. Australian CERT by socceroos · · Score: 2

    Do they do anything useful? I've contacted these guys multiple times about large-scale break-ins on systems holding plenty of personal information, but no response.

    1. Re:Australian CERT by gtch · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Hey! Be reasonable... how can they have time to do work when they have so many conferences to attend?

    2. Re:Australian CERT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You probably don't have the Gold Platinum Quadruple-Plus Membership needed to even warrant a glance.

    3. Re:Australian CERT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Do they do anything useful? I've contacted these guys multiple times about large-scale break-ins on systems holding plenty of personal information, but no response.

      Yep, they're very useful for excuses when you want a junket. Also when you want your environment so locked down you can't do any actual work thanks to implementing their paranoid ineffective ramblings.

    4. Re:Australian CERT by JamesD_UK · · Score: 1

      AusCERT aren't the Australian National CERT although they have in some ways been the de-facto CERT for some time. That position is now taken up by CERT Australia who are working closely with AusCERT and taken up some of their work. If you've got problems contacting them, send me some contact details and I'll try and help you out - I know some of their staff. AusCERT have been an incredibly useful source of information on compromised systems on my customer's networks.

    5. Re:Australian CERT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which Australian CERT?

      We have AusCERT and CERT Australia, one is a private not for profit, and the the other is a more recent government department more interested in national security.

    6. Re:Australian CERT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They were the semi-official CERT for Aust, but their funding has been reduced and that role is being phased out. The Fed Govts CERT role was fulfilled by GovCERT, a division of the Federal Attorney Generals Dept, and as part of AusCERTs role being reduced / funding cut, GovCERT has now been renamed to CERTAustralia with an increased CERT role. I hope that has cleared it up for you... Effectively, if you have an attack to report, CERT Australia are the guys to contact, not AusCERT.

  3. For those not familiar with AusCert by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...this is the conference where government agencies monitor what the experts have to say and come up with a set of guidelines that are impossible to follow, do not improve security, but are a huge hassle for developers, sysadmins and users alike. AusParanoidButIneffective would be a better name.

    The principle of least innovation^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hprivilege regins here.

    1. Re:For those not familiar with AusCert by Chuck+Chunder · · Score: 1

      According to this article AusCERT is independant of goverment The government version seems to be called "CERT Australia".

      --
      Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
    2. Re:For those not familiar with AusCert by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      According to this article AusCERT is independant of goverment The government version seems to be called "CERT Australia".

      Yep, they need the smoke screen of pseudo-independence to justify the stupidity they force on their employees.

  4. Off topic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Okay Slashdot, have you realised yet that when you press "Many More" on the main page, the number of comments appears at the end of every article title?

    HA HA

    1. Re:Off topic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why are you laughing? Is that somehow funny?

  5. Re:How to truly annoy an Australian? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Remind them that for all the pretense, they aren't Americans Downunder.

    Ah, what a relief... good to hear.

    Oh, and Aussies...the more you pretend to not want to be Yanks (or "Seppos"...), the more obvious it is that you do...

    (Nope, I'm not American either.)

    ... it's also good that I read the post title.

  6. just who exactly appeared at AusCERT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "The tenth annual AusCERT (Australian Computer Emergency Response Team) conference kicks off today in Queensland, Australia, touting appearances from Microsoft, Telstra, Rio Tinto and .. Kaspersky ...

    What have any of these to do with 'computer` security and what OS did the malware laden drives needed to run?

  7. IBM by Nerdfest · · Score: 1

    IBM gave out USB drives laden with malware

    They gave away copies of Lotus Notes?

  8. Re:How to truly annoy an Australian? by AHuxley · · Score: 1

    Remind them that their only connection to real computing power is to care for http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Gap ,
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geraldton#Australian_Defence_Satellite_Communications_Station ect.
    Then remind them that their only connection to real computer crime was the remote tapping of a computer in 1989.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_(computer_hacker)

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"