Monday 2 November 2026 · Sydney
Cybersecurity
Governments pull websites offline as hackers target critical PHP flaws
Attackers are already trying to take over websites through two critical PHP flaws. WordPress updates won't protect you; your host has to act, today.
Top Stories
Business
New Spirit of Tasmania ferries sail five years late
Spirit of Tasmania IV and V make their first passenger crossings of Bass Strait tonight, five years late and $700 million over the original business case.
Technology
Binance aims to reopen withdrawals by Sunday
Editor’s Picks
Helen Haines loses both legs after car hits her outside office
Aged care homes charge residents for once-free TVs and breakfasts
Surgery confirms Pope Leo has cancer in his right lung
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Alphabet loses US$500 billion in its worst day since Google floated
Erin Patterson loses appeal and will die in jail
Banks are shutting out AI agents that log in with customers' passwords
Anthropic security executive warns AI-found software flaws will get worse for 18 months
Hundreds of thousands of servers run PHP versions that will never get the PHP2Shell fix
News
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News
Trump must face BBC lawyers or risk losing his lawsuit
The judge also gave his team 30 days to hand over internal documents, finding they had not provided enough material.
Markets
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Markets
Intel's worst day since 1974 drags the Nasdaq down
Intel fell 28.58 per cent and the Nasdaq dropped 2.86 per cent as investors questioned the returns on Big Tech's AI spending.
Technology
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Technology
ASIC knew of VIQ offshoring fears a year early, emails show
Emails released under FOI show the ATO and ASIC suspected VIQ Solutions had sent government data offshore in early 2025, a year before the court data breach became public.
Technology
Binance aims to reopen withdrawals by Sunday
Binance has set aside more than US$6.34 billion to cover hack losses and expects to restore withdrawals before its Sunday deadline.
Technology
Binance loses US$6.3 billion in biggest crypto hack on record
Hackers drained up to US$6.3 billion from Binance's hot wallets. About US$3 billion has been frozen and bitcoin fell below US$77,000.
Technology
ASIC looks at brokers behind the failed $44 billion Firmus float
The regulator is making inquiries into the lead managers on the abandoned $44 billion listing, as Firmus faces up to US$550 million in chip payments by December.
Technology
Alphabet loses US$500 billion in its worst day since Google floated
Investors dumped the Google owner after AI spending pushed its quarterly cash flow US$9 billion into the red and search revenue fell short.
Technology
Meta offers Zuckerberg tax help to keep him in California
New non-voting shares would let him fund a possible billionaire tax without losing control. The deal binds him to California for eight years.
Technology
Judge orders Meta to pay US$25 billion over data lies
Meta plans to appeal, and interest will accrue during a legal challenge that could delay payment for years.
Technology
Nvidia in funding talks with Australian AI data centre firm
Firmus scrapped its sharemarket float amid weak investor demand and AI bubble fears, just two months after Nvidia joined its last funding round.
Opinion
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AI found PHP's worst flaw in years, and attackers have the same tools
The researchers say AI turned these PHP flaws into working exploits in hours. Any business left unpatched this week should act as if someone got in.
Bushletter Newsroom
Households carry the inflation fight as rates hit a 15-year high
Treasury should help curb demand from public spending, which higher interest rates barely touch even as they squeeze household budgets.
Bushletter Newsroom
Labor's trust tax could cost more to obey than it raises
Wilson Asset Management estimates $8 billion to $13.3 billion in advice and restructuring costs for family businesses. Coalition opposition threatens passage.
Bushletter Newsroom
Labor's online safety bill would hand ministers too much power
The Australian Human Rights Commission supports a duty of care but wants narrower rule-making powers and clearer harm definitions to protect freedom of expression.
Bushletter Newsroom
AI agents filed a false murder tip. Companies must answer for it.
Whenever an AI system does something alarming, the temptation is to reach for the language of rogue machines. That frame is comfortable because it shifts responsibility away from the companies that built and deployed the system, toward the spectre of unpredictable sentience.
Bushletter Newsroom
AI chiefs warn of doom, then wire AI into DNA and banks
Sam Altman and Dario Amodei told the UN that AI threatens humanity while plugging models into DNA databases and bank accounts. The doomsday sermon is a regulatory grift that protects incumbents.
Bushletter Newsroom
AI giants demand a development slowdown to save their business models
Dario Amodei and Sam Altman published their pacing arguments on September 12. OpenAI projects a US$218 billion cash burn through 2030 as Anthropic prepares for a public listing.
Bushletter Newsroom
