Some of Australia's internet superpowers are combining to fight cyber bullying, in the form of a new cyber-safety committee that will be available for public observation.

The increased use of mobile internet devices, coupled with fast moving social media environments presented a new set of risks to both children and adults, new report from the Australian Communications and Media Authority has found.

Americans, it seems, are getting the message that Internet safety and security is critical to their daily lives but many still need to employ safer cyber 'hygiene' and apply better ‘online behaviour’ to meet the threats of today that permeate the online environment.

Three out of four Australian children spend extra time online and using mobile phones during the school holidays, with almost half of them devoting an additional three hours or more each day on their mobile or surfing the Internet when they’re not at school.

In this modern day online security is of paramount concern. It comes as a surprise, then, that Tattersall's Sweeps, a prominent Australian gaming company that administers weekly lotto, pools and other gambling products, makes no distinction between upper- and lower-case in passwords.

Telstra’s showing its caring, philanthropic face during Australia’s national e-security awareness week with an announcement today that it is doubling funding to its Telstra Foundation for use in the spotlight on cyber safety program this year.

It's a classic faux pas; someone puts their personal raunchy photos online and then finds they've spread beyond the limited audience for which they were intended. This wouldn't ordinarily be news - except this time it happened to someone who makes a living from telling others how to manage their online identity.

With 2008 showing just how big the “underground economy” has become, and with numerous examples of banking Trojans and malware reaching new heights of nefariousness, 2009 is a do-or-die year for the banking industry – especially in the midst of the global financial crisis.

On line bullying and constant attempts to extract personal information for its misuse are part and parcel of life online for Australian teenagers, if the results of a survey of 2,800 teens are a fair representation of what goes on on the Internet.

Rootkits are the not-so-secret, yet increasingly sophisticated weapon of online criminals targeting Windows users even before their computer boots up, with the Mebroot / Sinowal / Torpig rootkit potentially the worst of the bunch, completely invisible to traditional AV programs – but not to TrustDefender.