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February 2000 - Issue 3
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Whats In This Issue:
    # Y2k: We discuss its blow-out by the media and how much money and 
      resources it wasted
    # Scam forces Telstra to fix 29,000 pay phones
    # The first sites removed due to the new censorship legislation
    # Fears of criminals stealing credit card information is the worst thing 
      about online buying
   
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Y2k: We discuss its blow-out by the media and how much money and 
resources it wasted
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The milleniun bug: what a pile of crap. Some people have dubbed the 
millenium bug as being one of the biggest scams ever. Lots of companies 
had to spend millions of dollars replacing equipment and updating equipment 
when it wasn't even needed. 

I think the millenium bug scam was called by the media. They completely 
made it like it would be huge destruction if people didnt try to fix y2k 
problems. Though it was the media's blowing out of the y2k bug the private 
sector must take some responsibility for wasting their money on the y2k 
bug. They listened to the media and paid the price. Everyone should now 
have learn that the media twists and blows out every story to make it popular 
in peoples eyes and to make people want to read it.

I knew from the start that the y2k bug's damage would do minimal damage if 
any and if I owned a company I would have only spent money on making sure 
my computer turned over to the year 2000 and not back to the year 1900. This 
would be my only problem due to the millenium bug because if there was 
orders on say the 2nd of January, 2000 and that never came the order would 
never come. Now i'd like to hear some other people's opinions on the matter 
so please email armour@halcon.com.au

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Scam forces Telstra to fix 29,000 pay phones   
---------------------------------------------
Story thanks to AAP

AAP

TELSTRA is urgently modifying 80 per cent of its public pay phones after a 
scam was discovered involving a drinking straw and free phone calls around 
the world. Telstra would have the 29,000 vulnerable phones rectified soon, 
Telstra's public affairs manager Michael Herskope said yesterday.

The Spanish-manufactured coin and phone card-operated Smart pay phone 
was phased into the Australian network from 1997.

The scam potentially cost Telstra millions of dollars in unlimited STD and ISD
 calls since then, but Telstra can only speculate. 

"We have a rough idea, but that's not something we're really going to 
publicise,'' Herskope said.

The scam was made public on the front page of Albury-Wodonga's The Border
 Morning Mail yesterday.

The newspaper was told by perpetrators that the low-tech scam had been well 
known since the phones were introduced as part of a $100 million upgrade of 
the public phone national network. 

One source said some people may have learnt about it from the Internet. 

The paper accompanied a man to three public phones chosen at random and
 observed him make free calls, including one to New York. 

Telstra had initially dismissed the scam as a myth, the paper said. 

But Herskope denied that Teltra only learnt of the fraud from the country 
newspaper. 

"We've known about it for a little while,'' he said.

"It's pretty hard to articulate weeks, days. I'm not sure how it was brought to 
our attention but it certainly was.'' 

He said rectifying the problem was a simple procedure. 

Without disclosing how the fraud was perpetrated, he said there was no design
 fault in the phone. 

"This particular fault will be closed off very shortly,'' he said. 

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The first sites removed due to the new censorship legislation
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Story thanks to SIMON HAYES 

INTERNET censorship theory became reality last week, with the Australian 
Broadcasting Authority (ABA) issuing takedown notices to the hosts of 
allegedly offensive Internet content.

The ABA issued an unspecified number of interim takedown notices after 
receiving complaints via its online content hotline.
The interim notices would remain in effect until the material had been 
assessed by the National Classification Board (NCB), said the ABA's manager 
for online services content regulation Stephen Nugent. The NCB would then 
issue a final takedown notice, he added.

Mr Nugent said content hosts issued with the notices had been generally 
compliant.

"We've had people ask why it's happened, because a lot are not aware of the 
scheme," he said. "But once it's explained to them, they understand. I wouldn't
 say they're happy, but they go away understanding why it's happening."

The individual sites involved would not be named, he said.

"We're not releasing details, because the purpose of the scheme is not to 
publish a list that might encourage people to visit (the sites)," he said.

Mr Nugent said complaints had reached "double digits".

"We're not being swamped, but there are a healthy number (of complaints)," he
 said. "We expect they will increase."

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Fears of criminals stealing credit card information is the worst thing 
about online buying
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Story thanks to MICHAEL McGUIRE 

FEAR of criminals stealing personal credit card details is one of the biggest 
hurdles for e-tailing to win mainstream acceptance in Australia, a new survey 
shows.

Australians are more concerned with credit card security than any of the other
 nations surveyed by Ernst & Young for its annual Global Online Retailing 
report.
Half of those surveyed cite the potential for stolen credit card information as
 the biggest drawback in online shopping.

The next biggest disadvantage, for one in four people, is that they cannot see 
or feel the desired item.

In the US, 53 per cent of people say the biggest concern is excessive shipping
 costs and only 19 per cent consider credit card security a problem.

Ernst & Young national director for retail and consumer products Steve 
Ferguson said the concern about credit card fraud "reflects the early stages of 
growth" in online shopping.

Mr Ferguson said the concern would lapse and customers would focus more 
on issues such as delivery times.

This is the first time Ernst & Young has included Australia alongside the US, 
the UK, Canada, France and Italy in its survey. The survey recorded strong 
growth in e-tailing in all markets, and says Australia is ripe for swift 
development.

Ernst & Young surveyed 100 consumers and 136 companies with e-commerce
 capabilities in Australia, finding the typical Internet shopper was male, 39.7 
years old, university educated and with an income of almost $100,000.

Among the businesses, it found 72 per cent of e-tailers sold products and 
services outside of Australia. The global average was less than 50 per cent.

Ernst & Young consulting lead partner for retail products Matthew Lang said 
2000 was likely to bring many more alliances struck between e-tailers.

Companies such as Wine Planet and Greengrocer.com.au were already 
sharing distribution arrangements and other companies were likely to follow 
their lead.

Mr Lang said the alliances would help e-tailers build critical mass more 
quickly and therefore contain distribution and other business costs.

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Synopsis 
--------
The purpose of this newsletter is to 'digest' current events of interest
that affect the Australian online underground. This mainly includes
coverage of general security issues and things that will affect the Australian it 
industry. 

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Special Thanks
---------------
Halcon : http://www.halcon.com.au
Landfill : http://landfill.bit-net.com
Nebula : http://neblula.tne.net.au

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Support Us
----------
Quadcon is after some very talented writers to join the group. We are after 
around 2 or 3 writers that can write articles for monthly Quadcon issues. If 
you think your good enough for Quadcon see the contact section below.

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Contact
-------
I can be contacted on the email address armour@halcon.com.au

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Copyright 2000 QuadCon
"Anything is possible it just takes a few extra phone calls"

