NBN starts taking HFC connection orders in May
NBN Co. has announced that from 24 May 2021 it will begin to take new orders to connect via its hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) services.
HFC connections were halted in February 2021 due to a global shortage of chipsets. NBN Co. said it has now started to receive the first shipments of HFC modems. NBN Co. is using its warehouse stocks and first deliveries of HFC modems received in March for reconnection orders on top of those premises without a legacy phone or internet service and for medically vulnerable customers.
ASIC takes the Commonwealth Bank to court
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has alleged that “inadequate or improperly configured” systems were some of the reasons that led the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) to improperly charge customers for almost a decade.
ASIC also alleges that manual errors were part of the issues that resulted in almost $55 million in fees charged to nearly 1 million customers who were entitled to fee waivers.
CBA confirmed the issue, which occurred between 1 June 2010 and 11 September 2019, and has issued remediation payments of $64.2 million — including interest — to those affected.
ASIC has filled the case in the Federal Court but CBA said it will fight the case despite accepting the error and having issued remediation payments as “it does not accept the way that the alleged contraventions have been formulated in the proceedings”.
Nine Network unable to broadcast weekend show due to cyberattack
Nine Network suffered a cyberattack on Sunday, 28 March that prevented it from broadcasting its Weekend Today show. The ransomware attack was aimed at the broadcasting and corporate business units and did not affect its publishing or radio systems. It was the latest in a spate of cyberattacks on Australian organisatons.
Emails were also operational, but Nine asked all staff to work from home while Nine examined the extent of the cyberattack.
Nine chief information and technology officer Damian Cronam said in a statement that the technology team was able to isolate the attacker and the specific activity initiated. The broadcaster then disconnected the corporate network from the internet and internal networks were separated from one another. No details as to the attacker’s intent have been shared as Nine worked to assess and bring back “controlled levels of connectivity into the network”.
The Australian Financial Review, which is owned by Nine, wrote that “an email to staff suggested that some files associated with a known ransomware strain called MedusaLocker could have been behind the attack”.
Nine said in a statement that there is no indication any data has been removed from its systems and are now moving to restore full services. Nine also said it will not be making comments on the nature or motives of the attack.