Last week, Optus notified the media and its customers that personal data had been compromised in a cyber attack. The compromised data included names, dates of birth, postal addresses, drivers licence and passport numbers. Fergus Hanson and Jocelinn Kang discuss the implications of this breach, the dangers of cyber attacks on critical infrastructure, and why Australia should consider prohibiting the payment of ransom demands.

Since 2017, Wall Street Journal’s Liza Lin and Josh Chin have been covering the CCP’s increasing use of surveillance technology to control society, which is featured in their new book ‘Surveillance State’. Dr Samantha Hoffman speaks to Liza and Josh about the use of surveillance tech in smart cities and the challenges of reporting on China following their expulsion.

Olivia Nelson speaks to Lisa Sharland about the prospects for UN reform and what the reforms might look like, why the UN remains relevant and key outcomes from the UN General Assembly’s High-level Week.

Mentioned in this episode:

‘Surveillance State: Inside China's Quest to Launch a New Era of Social Control’ : https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250821386/surveillancestate

Guests:

Fergus Hanson: https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/fergus-hanson

Jocelinn Kang: https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/jocelinn-kang

Dr Samantha Hoffman: https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/samantha-hoffman

Josh Chin: https://www.wsj.com/news/author/josh-chin

Liza Lin: https://www.wsj.com/news/author/liza-lin

Olivia Nelson: https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/olivia-nelson

Lisa Sharland: https://www.stimson.org/ppl/lisa-sharland/

Music: "Caribetron" by Quincas Moreira