X
Business

AusCERT kicks off 10th conference

The tenth annual Australian Computer Emergency Response Team (AusCERT) conference takes place in Queensland's Gold Coast this week.
Written by Munir Kotadia, Contributor

The tenth annual Australian Computer Emergency Response Team (AusCERT) conference takes place in Queensland's Gold Coast this week.

AusCERT

Kaspersky with meter maids at last
year's AusCERT (Credit: Munir Kotadia/ZDNet Australia)

In a year that has seen such high-profile security breaches such as Sony Entertainment admitting to losing 77 million customer details after its PlayStation network was hacked and RSA's SecurID token system being compromised, conference attendees will have plenty to discuss.

The online gaming system has been offline since late April and although the company warned last week that it would require more testing of its systems before full service would be available, Sony claims to have started a phased restoration over the weekend.

The event opens with a keynote from Bennett Arron, the Welsh comedian who fell victim to identity thieves and went on to make a documentary about his experience in 1997. Bennett was arrested after he demonstrated how easy it was to commit this crime by stealing the identity of Charles Clarke, who at the time was the UK's home secretary.

On day two, Detective Superintendent Brian Hay, who heads up the Fraud and Corporate Crime Group of the Queensland Police, will speak about the problems of fighting crimes committed online. Last year, for the first time ever, Hay's team were able to return funds to the victim of a Nigerian scam.

Eugene Kaspersky, co-founder and CEO of Kaspersky Lab, returns this year to convey his views on how to defeat cyber criminals. It's not yet known if he will be accompanied by his "meter maids", who caused so much controversy last year.

Attendees will be entertained on Tuesday night by musical nerd band Tripod, who were kind enough to give us permission to use some of their music in our video reports.

Editorial standards