Nat Power - Faster Networks

In/effective altruism made us feel awful

16 Mar, 20235 Dec, 2022 by Nat Power

Enter the case of MIT graduate, crypto-trader and heralded philanthropist, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). SBF, fairly recently, was the wealthiest person under 30, a classic media darling, gracing covers of Fortune and Forbes 400 as recently as August 2022. He had a real rapport with journalists, they say he was disarming with his swagger, casual clothing and Einstein dishevelled-ness. He was a formidable tech guru that fronted media, answered the questions and appeared impressive and relatable.

Elon, Elon, Elon

16 Mar, 202316 Nov, 2022 by Nat Power

Twitter has been an explosive democracy for a while. What separates Twitter from other social media platforms is that independent creators have had a place to spruik their opinion and their work outward, far beyond their base: quickly and sometimes in real time, followed by review and debate. Journalists, politicians, authors, artists, musicians and everyday humans have had a place to share something no matter what side of politics, as long as the content was created within some fairly loose rules. Those rules were broken often and there were consequences, like when the then president, Donald Trump lost his Twitter account because he was found to incite violence on January 6th before the insurrection.

Hacksville

16 Mar, 20232 Nov, 2022 by Nat Power

We have witnessed the relentless ease with which data is being compromised, stolen, held to ransom, we are also trying to legislate digital theft, not from the dirty, baseless criminals stealing it but from the companies that allow it to happen. A long read in The Guardian titled Ransomware hunters: the self-taught tech geniuses fighting cybercrime discusses how ransomware is an efficient crime with little accountability. Even if you pinpoint and arrest the criminal, the damage is far-reaching and ubiquitous and can be traumatising to those that have had their identity stolen.

Trust Me

16 Mar, 202320 Oct, 2022 by Nat Power

What is lost in this self-talk however is that digital fraud is a sophisticated and relentless threat. Telstra’s chair, John Mullen, came out recently to admonish the Federal government ministers for undermining Optus’ claim that the cyberattack they recently endured was sophisticated.

But privacy and, the information collected about us before we even get to talk of a data breach, is used in so many ways and is a somewhat empty promise that companies make in order to get us to sign our data away.

Telco incommunicado

16 Mar, 20235 Oct, 2022 by Nat Power

Optus is deeply apologetic over the latest threat to their customers’ details following a significant cyberattack. The fallout to their customer base and to the security of private data is one of confusion and distrust. Customers were put on high alert early, to note any suspicious activity on their accounts and any notifications that could be asking for information from a source unknown or a fake account. Account holders were told to stay informed, complete a credit check, change Medicare details and apply for a new licence.