News Coronavirus Thread

[Kangaroos4eva]

I have been thinking about this full lockdown situation and whether it can be practically implemented in Australia. It would be easier to do in NZ, but I can only see partial geographic lockdowns being implemented in Australia as I fear we don't have the resources for such a large country.

 

[7577969923]

My mum is on a pension aided by super, she wouldn't have needed it before the GFC. She struggles week to week at the moment. She may end up far enough ahead to spend a bit more money on her grandkids birthday presents and may be able to pay for her own flights to visit us (well... If airline prices don't increase too much but they probably will.)

Most pensioners spent their lives paying taxes and building this country. We should give them enough money to live without stress.

There is a hell of a lot of people who are going to be negatively impacted by this. I don't mean to sound callous but throwing money at the one cohort who won't lose a cent smacks of politics over sound economics.

My mother in law also a pensioner and I don't really want her to have any more money for flights. She's here bloody enough as it is.

 

[ferball]

There is a hell of a lot of people who are going to be negatively impacted by this. I don't mean to sound callous but throwing money at the one cohort who won't lose a cent smacks of politics over sound economics.

My mother in law also a pensioner and I don't really want her to have any more money for flights. She's here bloody enough as it is.

My missus has more fun with my old girl than hers.

Very few people on benefits are gonna come out of this with much cash spare tho.

It probably is a political thing. You couldn't give job seekers a $550 a week increase and not give it to pensioners. We'd never hear the end of it. In that sense it might be worth it for all of us just so we don't hear the likes of Alan Jones and Lawsey or their parrots whinging every bloody day.

 

[krakouers]

Australia’s broadband ‘just holding on’: experts

As more and more people stay home and as streaming services’ audiences increase, internet speed is under pressure.

thewest.com.au

Coronavirus crisis: Australia’s broadband holding on during COVID-19 crisis
Ulises IzquierdoAAP
Thursday, 26 March 2020 10:42AM

As more and more people stay home and as streaming services’ audiences increase, internet speed is under pressure.
And Australia’s broadband is just holding on, experts say.
Researchers at Monash University have looked at the world’s internet activity and created a global map that details the effect of COVID-19 on internet infrastructure.

To create the map, they looked at the difference in latency or speed issues affecting millions of internet global users since February when many countries entered major lock-downs
“More people at home means more people online,” Associate Professor Paul Raschky said.
“The situation is not dissimilar to a family trying to make their way through a crowded subway tunnel.”
Although internet quality is still relatively stable in Europe and North America, Dr Raschky claims that regions affected by the virus like Italy or Spain have shown signs of strain.
Across Australia’s major cities, the internet is holding up.
But areas like the ACT, South Australia and Victoria are showing initial signs of pressure.
“The signs for now in Australia are ’steady’, but not entirely reassuring,” Dr Raschky said.
“We will keep monitoring the situation and plan to provide further reports as the Australian social distancing measures ramp up in the coming days.”
Broadband provider Optus announced it would support customers boosting additional data, and making all fixed broadband plans unlimited.
Telstra said it was offering personal and small business customers additional data, and offering unlimited standard home phone calls for pensioners.

 

[ferball]

Well............it is the Victorian Police Force.

We have seized 88 tonnes of (insert drug here), 7 have been destroyed, 4 have been requisitioned for under cover entrapment and two have disappeared from the secure storage room.

As of now that accounts for all of it.

 

[shintemaster]

Australia’s broadband ‘just holding on’: experts

As more and more people stay home and as streaming services’ audiences increase, internet speed is under pressure.

thewest.com.au

Coronavirus crisis: Australia’s broadband holding on during COVID-19 crisis
Ulises IzquierdoAAP
Thursday, 26 March 2020 10:42AM

As more and more people stay home and as streaming services’ audiences increase, internet speed is under pressure.
And Australia’s broadband is just holding on, experts say.
Researchers at Monash University have looked at the world’s internet activity and created a global map that details the effect of COVID-19 on internet infrastructure.

To create the map, they looked at the difference in latency or speed issues affecting millions of internet global users since February when many countries entered major lock-downs
“More people at home means more people online,” Associate Professor Paul Raschky said.
“The situation is not dissimilar to a family trying to make their way through a crowded subway tunnel.”
Although internet quality is still relatively stable in Europe and North America, Dr Raschky claims that regions affected by the virus like Italy or Spain have shown signs of strain.
Across Australia’s major cities, the internet is holding up.
But areas like the ACT, South Australia and Victoria are showing initial signs of pressure.
“The signs for now in Australia are ’steady’, but not entirely reassuring,” Dr Raschky said.
“We will keep monitoring the situation and plan to provide further reports as the Australian social distancing measures ramp up in the coming days.”
Broadband provider Optus announced it would support customers boosting additional data, and making all fixed broadband plans unlimited.
Telstra said it was offering personal and small business customers additional data, and offering unlimited standard home phone calls for pensioners.

Even now with all this going on the spin over broadband is relentless from RSP's. They still talk about data like it's a finite resource. The only thing that matters is capacity in the backbones and the last mile solutions (ie. the bit that the LNP intentionally sabotaged to suit their dogma and private interests). All the rest is nonsense.

Can't imagine too many besides Nana and her corgi's are on anything much than ridiculous data plans nowadays anyway...

 

[The Warlord]

Well, Latham’s comment takes the cake for stupid comment of the week for sure. There’s a reason these things start in China and that’s because they treat animals like s**t. Any group of people that would fry a live dog in a wok isn’t worth my time.

Remember how nobody could eat British beef for decades, because it gave people Mad Cow disease?

 

[DaveyBoy123]

A third man has died from coronavirus in Victoria, bringing the state’s toll to three.

Australia’s death toll from coronavirus now stands at 12, with two men dying in Victoria overnight.

 

[The Dingrel]

My missus has more fun with my old girl than hers.

Very few people on benefits are gonna come out of this with much cash spare tho.

It probably is a political thing. You couldn't give job seekers a $550 a week increase and not give it to pensioners. We'd never hear the end of it. In that sense it might be worth it for all of us just so we don't hear the likes of Alan Jones and Lawsey or their parrots whinging every bloody day.

It's a simple economics thing actually. one person's expenditure is another's income. you give to the most needy, and 100pct of that gets spent in the economy (potentially on smokes and booze with high taxation rates which comes straight back to government revenue) rather than putting into a mortgage offset account.

 

[Moti]

Even now with all this going on the spin over broadband is relentless from RSP's. They still talk about data like it's a finite resource. The only thing that matters is capacity in the backbones and the last mile solutions (ie. the bit that the LNP intentionally sabotaged to suit their dogma and private interests). All the rest is nonsense.

Can't imagine too many besides Nana and her corgi's are on anything much than ridiculous data plans nowadays anyway...

Not exactly right, there are many aspects of the exchange and backbone structure that directly relate to capacity, speed and upgrade paths. The figures I am seeing are not too bad considering.

 

[The Dingrel]

We have seized 88 tonnes of (insert drug here), 7 have been destroyed, 4 have been requisitioned for under cover entrapment and two have disappeared from the secure storage room.

As of now that accounts for all of it.

My boss has a holiday home in Byron. He was saying the local cops have offered to have people's stash tested for covid 19 prior to their consumption. Apparently loads of gullible people turned up to the cop shop with bags of meth.

 

[giantroo]

 

[Grogg]

Thought I'd give people a public service announcement and little reminder to be aware that every link you click on isn't always what it may appear to be.

I clicked a link posted in this very thread earlier and it was blocked as a fraudulent site so just be careful online folks.

These scum no know bounds. See below:




Hackers Try to Compromise WHO’s Infrastructure amid Pandemic

1 day ago
2 Min Read

Hackers tried using a phishing campaign to steal login credentials of officials working for the World Health Organization (WHO) by setting up a fake website. Fortunately, their efforts were thwarted and no damage was done.
One way to steal credentials is by setting up a fake website that’s very similar to the target and trying to trick people into using their user names and passwords. Besides data breaches, phishing campaigns can prove highly effective, especially in targeted strikes.
Unlike regular phishing campaigns, where messages are sent indiscriminately in the hopes that some people will fall for the ruse, the WHO attack was much more targeted, with the single goal of stealing login credentials.
According to a Reuters report, the incident was first spotted by Alexander Urbelis, a cybersecurity expert working for Blackstone Law Group in New York. The researcher noticed that cybercriminals set up a website similar to WHO’s internal email system. If the attack continued, WHO employees could have received emails asking them to confirm their login details, for example.
Fortunately, the attempt yielded no result, and the WHO’s security wasn’t compromised. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be attacked again. If the past month is any indication, the number of attacks is going to increase even further.
According to Bitdefender’s telemetry, the number of malicious reports related to Coronavirus increased by more than 475% in March from February. The most affected industries seem to be government, retail, hospitality, transportation, and education & research, but the healthcare domain is also heavily affected.
As the pandemic extends its grip across the world, we’ll start to see even more hospitals paralyzed by ransomware, just like recently happened in the Czech Republic. And the WHO is one of the biggest targets right now on the world stage.

Hackers Try to Compromise WHO"s Infrastructure amid Pandemic

Hackers tried using a phishing campaign to steal login credentials of officials working for the World Health Organization (WHO) by setting up a fake website.

hotforsecurity.bitdefender.com

 

[La Flama Blanca]

It's a simple economics thing actually. one person's expenditure is another's income. you give to the most needy, and 100pct of that gets spent in the economy (potentially on smokes and booze with high taxation rates which comes straight back to government revenue) rather than putting into a mortgage offset account.

Yep, welfare money has the highest multiplier effect because people spend it on basic needs. It's great for the economy. The reason it's usually such a measly payment is because during periods of expansion you need to incentivise people to contribute their labour to growing industry rather than just sit at home. We do not live in these times - and to be frank, especially in some areas of the country, we were beginning to move away from it even before this crisis.

 

[The Dingrel]

Not exactly right, there are many aspects of the exchange and backbone structure that directly relate to capacity, speed and upgrade paths. The figures I am seeing are not too bad considering.

I work in financial markets and have been trading from home 1 day a week for years now. I'm still on cable at 100mb/s, and generally don't notice any difference between home and the office. 1 second latency can potentially cost tens of thousands of dollars (to my employer) so speed is crucial for me, for that reason I've delayed switching to the NBN. I've been working from home full time for 2 weeks now, and honestly performance has held up fine. Telstra however keep calling me to put me on the NBN, but they won't tell me the speed and reliability and say they'll only know once its connected. Anyone have any thoughts on speed/reliability of NBN vs cable at 100mb/s, (I'm paying 80 bux a month for cable only no Foxtel etc.)…….obviously a long way off the footy topic. Sorry, but I figured some on here would be in the know. Cheers in advance.

 

[Grogg]

Here's another one for your reading "pleasure".

Cyber-Attack Potentially Slows Down Development of Coronavirus Vaccine
2 days ago
2 Min Read

A medical research company scheduled to test a potential vaccine for the Covid-19 Coronavirus has been hit with ransomware by Maze Team, the very hacking group that, just last week pledged to stop interfering with entities combating the Coronavirus pandemic.
Maze Team has infected computer systems of Hammersmith Medicines Research (HMR), “publishing personal details of thousands of former patients after the company declined to pay a ransom,” Bill Goodwin reported for ComputerWeekly.com.
HMR is known to have carried out tests to develop the Ebola vaccine and drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease. It also regularly performs early clinical trials of drugs and vaccines.
Up until last week, it was seeking a cure for the agonizing Coronavirus pandemic. That was, until its systems suddenly froze, infected with ransomware – a form of malware that scrambles data on computer systems and doesn’t restore it until ransom is paid to those commanding the attack.
“HMR said that IT staff discovered a ‘severe attack’ in progress on Saturday 14 March, but were able to halt it and restore its computer systems and email by the end of the day,” Goodwin reports.
“We repelled [the attack] and quickly restored all our functions. There was no downtime,” said Malcolm Boyce, managing and clinical director and doctor at HMR.
Fortunately, the company was able to restore its data – likely from backups secluded from Internet cables or adjacent systems. However, the situation is far from encouraging. While HMR managed to dodge this bullet, the healthcare sector in general is an easy target for cybercriminals, as it’s notoriously lacking in cybersecurity safeguards.
The incident reportedly prompted HMR to “beef up” its cyber defenses, with Boyce admitting his company lacked the funds to pay a ransom demand even it wanted to.
Unlike run-of-the-mill commercial ransomware, Maze authors have meticulously implemented a data theft mechanism to exfiltrate information from compromised systems. This information is used by Maze operatives as leverage, not only for for payment, but also to transform an operational issue into a fully-fledged data breach. Bitdefender this week is releasing a whitepaper exposing the shady techniques employed by Maze Team that allow it to perform obfuscation, evasion and exploitation of infrastructures with a large attack surface, such as government agencies, critical infrastructures and healthcare systems.

 

[shintemaster]

Not exactly right, there are many aspects of the exchange and backbone structure that directly relate to capacity, speed and upgrade paths. The figures I am seeing are not too bad considering.

There are many aspects, yes. But in simple terms the amount of data is a throughput question - not a quantity question as they constantly phrase it.

 

[Ether]

LOL, bloke rakes in hundreds of thousands in taxpayer money to sit and shitpost and get on the grog before 10AM.

It is a nice old earn if you don't care about your dignity.

To think that this moron could have become our prime minister. Or perhaps it takes an uncommon type of genius to roll an inaccurate basis, shitful sentiment and unfathomable logic into one short tweet.

 

[muttley45]

No, all benefits will get an extra $550 a fortnight apparently.

Cheers Ferbs, hope you are right, i was asked that very question out in the real world today, (while lining up at the Post Office to pay my Gas/Water/Electricity bills) by a very worried senior citizen and could not give an accurate answer to assure her she would be ok.

 

[The Warlord]

My boss has a holiday home in Byron. He was saying the local cops have offered to have people's stash tested for covid 19 prior to their consumption. Apparently loads of gullible people turned up to the cop shop with bags of meth.

Yeah, your boss also gets Facey boomer memes.

 

[Scallop Industry Thug]

Bloody lag just cost me a goal in Rocket League.

 

[krakouers]

I work in financial markets and have been trading from home 1 day a week for years now. I'm still on cable at 100mb/s, and generally don't notice any difference between home and the office. 1 second latency can potentially cost tens of thousands of dollars (to my employer) so speed is crucial for me, for that reason I've delayed switching to the NBN. I've been working from home full time for 2 weeks now, and honestly performance has held up fine. Telstra however keep calling me to put me on the NBN, but they won't tell me the speed and reliability and say they'll only know once its connected. Anyone have any thoughts on speed/reliability of NBN vs cable at 100mb/s, (I'm paying 80 bux a month for cable only no Foxtel etc.)…….obviously a long way off the footy topic. Sorry, but I figured some on here would be in the know. Cheers in advance.

Dingrel, not the only one, a few people in my suburb have switched and have minor lags and delays with the NBN at partial capacity and now have massive issues, we have also delayed going onto NBN

 

[krakouers]

To think that this moron could have become our prime minister. Or perhaps it takes an uncommon type of genius to roll an inaccurate basis, shitful sentiment and unfathomable logic into one short tweet.

It reads like a fake account, Mark Latham couldnt even spell liquidity let alone understand finance

 

[sbdan]

Yep, welfare money has the highest multiplier effect because people spend it on basic needs. It's great for the economy. The reason it's usually such a measly payment is because during periods of expansion you need to incentivise people to contribute their labour to growing industry rather than just sit at home. We do not live in these times - and to be frank, especially in some areas of the country, we were beginning to move away from it even before this crisis.

Correct.

If someone gave me extra money it would go straight onto my mortgage. No social benefit.

 

[The Dingrel]

Yeah, your boss also gets Facey boomer memes.

In English?