Tag Archives: oceania

'As bad as it gets': Extent of Latitude hack revealed

Exclusive: The array of deeply intimate financial information today confirmed as stolen in the Latitude hack is "as bad as it gets", a cyber privacy expert has declared, leaving 290,000 victims potentially vulnerable to blackmail, extortion and theft.

9news.com.au can confirm hackers gained access to highly private banking, work and personal records that almost 300,000 Latitude customers had entrusted to the firm, including details of employment, income, household expenses, assets and liabilities. Hackers also hoovered up those customers' BSB and account numbers.

The 290,000 people affected are part of the 14 million overall customer records known to have been stolen in the breach.

Code on a computer screen

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Today's revelations depict an alarming level of exposure, privacy expert Dr Brendan Walker-Munro told 9news.com.au. 

"In terms of exploitation, this is as bad as it gets," Walker-Munro said.

"This kind of financial detail is on a scale worse than Optus, closer to Medibank.

"With Medibank the danger was criminals using the stolen data to blackmail or harass people with vulnerable or compromising medical conditions.

"Here, they can just go straight for the money."

The full extent of the hack has grown significantly worse since the company revealed the attack in March.

Walker-Munro said the breadth and specificity of information taken from 290,000 customers allowed anyone who holds it to essentially mimic a victim's legal identity to a financial institution.

"A criminal could apply for bank accounts, loans, credit cards – the works."

Although cyber criminals can just falsify things like someone's assets and expenses, having the actual details of a real-life person gives scammers a detailed example of a customer who has already received credit, Walker-Munro explained.

"This means they don't have to try to game the algorithms behind the credit decisions by making up 'believable' numbers."

EXPLAINED: What to do if your data is compromised in a company hack?

How to spot a scam

Hackers can also potentially use that detail to access accounts already held in the name of that customer, he said, or to try and get more information about the person from a government department.

Almost 8 million drivers licenses are known to have be stolen.

Walker-Munro also warned of the possibility that hackers could use this kind of highly personal information in a direct blackmail or ransom scenario.

A victim could get a phone call from criminals threatening to expose how close they are to bankruptcy, or their level of debt, unless a ransom of Bitcoin was paid.

"You have to remember that, statistically, at least some of the customers in the hacked data were having debts recovered from them by Latitude for overdue payments, contract breaches and other things," he said.

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A Latitude spokesperson confirmed "approximately 290,000 BSB and account numbers provided for personal loan disbursements, as well as income and expense information used to assess loan applications", were compromised in the March cyber-attack.

"No account passwords were stolen," the spokesperson told 9news.com.au.

"Some cancelled or expired credit card numbers provided for debt consolidation were also compromised.

"No card expiry dates or CVC numbers were stolen."

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Warning Australia's 'broken' migration system needs fixing

Australia's migration system is set to undergo a major overhaul following a scathing review which claims it is failing to meet current needs.

The 190-page report highlighted a lack of policy for lower-paid workers and increasing labour shortages, particularly in the care sector.

It said the migration system is not effectively targeted to either current or future needs and warned Australia was failing to attract skilled migrants during a time of global competition for labour.

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Home Affairs Minister Claire O'Neill will reveal the federal government's migration reforms at the National Press Club in Canberra later today.

The review said there was widespread evidence that temporary migrants workers are being exploited and aspects of the migration system heightened the risk.

It called for an overhaul of the government's skilled occupation lists for employer sponsorship, claiming they don't meet current needs for labour.

There are concerns Australia will not have the available housing to meet a future influx of migrants.

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The country is expected to see a shortfall of 175,000 new homes over the next five years due to higher migration and larger mortgages.

About 650,000 migrants will arrive in the next couple of years increasing demands for housing.

Last year the Albanese government announced the skilled migrant worker was being lifted to nearly 200,000 people a year from its current rate of 160,000 due to a national labour shortage.

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Man jailed for hunting girl with bow and arrow at Aldi

Armed with a compound bow, Benjamin Jeremy Bourke hunted a 15-year-girl in a supermarket "like an animal".

Pleading for help, the girl ran around the Aldi store west of Brisbane with Bourke shooting arrows in pursuit.

One arrow pierced her upper torso after going through her hand and the phone case she was holding up to protect herself.

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Benjamin Jeremy Bourke hunted a 15-year-girl in a supermarket "like an animal".

In CCTV footage of the September 2020 attack shown in Brisbane Supreme Court today, panicking shoppers can be seen trying to escape the Booval store as Bourke stalks the girl.

After a good Samaritan shields the 15-year-old, Bourke closed in with a sledgehammer before being tackled by other customers.

Bourke targeted the girl after hatching a plan to kill himself following an argument with a housemate.

He decided the way to achieve his goal was to be killed by police.

"In order to provoke the police into a violent standoff he decided to take a life," crown prosecutor Matt Le Grand said.

Arming himself with the bow, five arrows, three sledgehammers and two knives, Bourke put on a mask and went out looking for someone to kill.

Walking down the street, he shot an arrow at a woman jogging past but missed.

He decided against targeting another woman with a baby before noticing the 15-year-old outside the Aldi store, taking off his mask as he approached her.

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Bourke shot arrows in the supermarket, at one stage narrowly missing other shoppers.

"I will let you see who I am first," he said before shooting an arrow at the girl who retreated into the shop.

CCTV footage shows the girl running around the aisles begging customers for help and trying to hide as Bourke shoots arrows in the supermarket, at one stage narrowly missing other shoppers.

"She was hunted like an animal around the store for about four minutes," Le Grand said.

A female shopper eventually shielded the girl when Bourke approached with the sledgehammer after running out of arrows.

He asked the sobbing girl to return the arrow that was later surgically removed from her hand, saying they were expensive, before being tackled and detained by two customers.

The girl was in court with her parents today, silently sitting through the CCTV footage as Bourke held his head in his hands.

The court heard the girl's social and family life had been impacted since the attack and she remained hyper vigilant and suspicious of people in public.

Bourke has not shown remorse, the court was told.

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Bourke targeted the girl after hatching a plan to kill himself following an argument with a housemate.

A psychiatric report said Bourke had developed a primitive and immature personality, was angry at the world and felt justified in his anti-social behaviour.

He was diagnosed with mild autism and a personality disorder.

Bourke's drug use was "not an excuse" and he had not been experiencing psychosis during the attack, Le Grand said.

Bourke, 28, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in prison by Justice Tom Sullivan, with a serious violent offender declaration.

Bourke must serve 80 per cent of the sentence before being eligible for parole.

Crisis support is available from Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Trial begins for man accused of killing teen girl after birthday party

Two vulnerable teenage women were attacked late at night in central west New South Wales and one of them murdered by a man who violently acted on his sexual urges, jurors have heard.

Craig Henry Rumsby is on trial in the NSW Supreme Court accused of murdering 17-year-old Michelle Bright after she left a friend's 15th birthday party in Gulgong in the early hours of February 27, 1999.

Bright's body was found three days later hidden in long grass by the side of Barneys Reef Road.

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Michelle Bright who was murdered 21 years ago in the NSW town of Gulgong

Her blouse had been pushed up, the clasps of her bra ripped off, and her jeans and underwear were around her ankles.

An autopsy of her body, which had grazes on the abdomen, thighs and knuckles, could not confirm the cause of death, with a report saying Bright was killed by "homicidal violence of an undetermined aetiology".

Rumsby has also been accused of choking another female victim who was then 18 years old with the intent of raping her after she left a New Year's Eve party on January 1, 1998.

He has pleaded not guilty to both charges.

At Dubbo Courthouse on Wednesday, crown prosecutor Lee Carr SC said Rumsby had made an alleged confession to police in which he claimed he wanted to have "a crack" at raping the 18-year-old woman after she emerged from her home alone.

"He stated he wanted to try and f— her. He said she was 18 and had a good body," Carr said.

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Craig Rumsby has been charged with the murder of Michelle Bright in 1999.

Rumsby is also alleged to have said he hit Bright after hearing her footsteps behind him.

He said he covered her mouth with his hands for 10 minutes until she stopped breathing.

"He decide to kill her because he didn't want to get pinned for it," the prosecutor said.

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Carr argued there were "significant similarities" between the two attacks on young women who were grabbed by the throat while they were alone in the dark.

"The Crown says that he had a sexual interest in females of late teens and a tendency to act on that by committing sexually motivated violence.

Michelle Bright was last seen alive after being dropped off at the Commercial Hotel on the main street of Gulgong in February 27, 1999.

"It would be extraordinary if by coincidence there were different perpetrators."

NSW police had interviewed Rumsby regarding both the alleged murder and rape since 1999 but only made their arrest after the unsolved homicide team reopened the cold case in 2019.

In August 2020, police publicly announced a $1 million reward for anyone who had information about the murder.

Rumsby commented on a post about the announcement put on the NSW Police Force's Facebook page.

"It's so sad they haven't caught her killer yet. Michelle was like a sister to me. I feel sorry for her," he wrote.

Jurors heard Rumsby offered a DNA sample to police in their investigation but that no scientific evidence had been produced linking him to either alleged crime.

The trial continues on Thursday.

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Charges over deaths of three children after 'unprecedented' neglect probe

Charges have been laid over the deaths of three South Australian children – aged between six and 15 – after an "unprecedented" investigation into alleged child neglect.

Three parents were charged today with manslaughter relating to the deaths of three different children after a task force was established in July last year to investigate the death of Charlie Nowland.

The six-year-old was found unresponsive in a home in Munno Para and later died in hospital.

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Crystal Hanley charged with manslaughter over death of Charlie.

Charlie's mother Crystal Hanley, 47, has been charged with manslaughter in relation to Charlie's death and the criminal neglect of four other children – aged between eight and 14 – living in the same home.

Hanley faced Adelaide Magistrates Court today where she was granted bail to her home address.

The task force also investigated a second child's death, Makai Wanganeen, who was taken to hospital while "very sick" in February last year.

A post-mortem found the seven-year-old died from "several serious health issues".

Shane Wangannen, 50, has been arrested and charged over his son Makai's alleged manslaughter.

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Shane Wangannen charged with manslaughter over death of Makai.

The death of Jasmine Wilmott in 2018 was also part of the inquiry.

Jenni Wilmott was charged with criminal neglect in 2020 but the charges were dropped in 2021.

She has now been arrested again after police gathered new evidence.

The 54-year-old has now been charged with manslaughter

"The woman was further charged with other criminal offences arising from the same set of circumstances," SA Police said. 

Wangannen and Wilmott will face court on Thursday.

Assistant Commissioner John Venditto said police had collected physical, financial, forensic and expert evidence.

None of the cases are linked, nor are the victims connected.

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Jenni Wilmott charged with manslaughter over death of daughter Jasmine.

"It is extremely rare to charge an adult with the death of a child, to charge three in one day is unprecedented," he said.

"The facts and circumstances that give rise to a charge of manslaughter are different in each case.

"What is the same, the adult charged with manslaughter owed a duty of care to the child at the time."

There are not expected to be any further arrests over the deaths of Charlie, Makai or Jasmine.

Police would not detail the relationships between the accused and their alleged victims.

South Australia Police Assistant Commissioner John Venditto

Manslaughter or criminal neglect convictions can carry a life sentence, Venditto said.

Last year, two reviews into the state's child protection system were launched to investigate how systemic failings may have contributed to the deaths of Charlie and Makai.

Former police commissioner Mal Hyde found there were 500 South Australian children who could be living in danger and criminal law did not have enough power to prosecute parents.

There were 31 recommendations made and the government agreed to adopt them all.

Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.