The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has released its second quarterly report on Notifiable Data Breaches (available here) showing that 305 data breaches have been reported under the scheme so far. Are you aware of your obligations? Check out MCQI’s Australian Privacy Law courses to find out more!

Commonwealth Bank has reached a $700 million settlement with the Federal Government’s financial intelligence agency, AUSTRAC, over its breach of anti-money laundering laws involving 53,506 individual transactions. Click here for more details.

Australia’s new mandatory data breach notification laws come into effect today, requiring businesses covered by the Privacy Act to report data breaches to the government and affected people. Is your business prepared? Our Australian Privacy Law and Information Security Awareness training courses can help you prepare your business.

The Australian Government has been embarrassed by the publication of confidential cabinet papers discovered inside filing cabinets that were sold to the public. This is yet another illustration of the importance of good information security policies and training to protect your confidential information.

Previously thought to be secure, experts now warn that almost all modern Wi-Fi devices could be vulnerable to eavesdropping or hijacking of Wi-Fi sessions, even if an encrypted session is established. All users must now be extra careful when using public Wi-Fi hotspots. Ensure your staff are aware of the dangers when using Wi-Fi and other information technologies.

The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) has released its annual Cyber Threat Report for 2017, which states that “malicious cyber activity against Australia’s national and economic interests is increasing in frequency, scale, sophistication and severity.” The downloadable report is highly recommended reading.

Telstra has released some recommendations to help guard against the recent so-called ‘WannaCry’ ransomware cyber attacks. As always, we recommend education as one of the best defences against cyber threats, such as our Information Security Awareness online training.

Organisations covered by the Australian Privacy Act are now required to follow new mandatory data breach notification laws. Do you know your obligations under the Act? Check out our Australian Privacy Law training.

Safe Work Australia has released data showing that 132 Australians have been killed at work so far in 2016 (190 died in 2015). Find out more about our Work Health & Safety training here.

Colgate-Palmolive has been penalised $18m by the ACCC for entering into anti-competitive understandings with laundry detergent competitors. These laws are covered in our Restrictive Trade Practices course.