By allowing scammers to send messages posing as well-known Australian brands, including financial institutions, telcos, couriers, ride-sharing services, and ticketing companies, Sydney-based company Known Pty Ltd (doing business as Burst SMS) has violated SMS anti-scam rules.

108 SMS were sent over the course of a month by scammers using text-based sender IDs (i.e., a business name) impersonating trusted companies, according to an Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) investigation. Burst SMS offered its customers a free trial to send up to 10 messages per day without performing the necessary checks.

Text-based sender IDs can be used by con artists to impersonate trustworthy businesses like banks, government agencies, and toll road operators. Australian telcos are required by the Reducing Scam Calls and Scam SMs Code to ask customers for proof that their use of text-based sender IDs in SMS is justified.

Nerida O'Loughlin, chair of the ACMA, noted that scams utilising fictitious text-based Sender IDs can be particularly challenging to detect.

Scammers will exploit any tiny flaw in the system, and in this case, Burst's free trial offer provided them with the perfect opportunity.

"Until you are certain that a text is legitimate, you should proceed cautiously when it contains a link. Reporting and deleting the message is the best course of action if there is any doubt.

The ACMA has ordered Burst SMS to abide by the code, and if there are any additional violations, the telco may face tougher enforcement measures, such as the start of legal proceedings in the Federal Court.

According to the code, telcos are required to investigate companies that use text-based sender IDs and identify, track, and block suspected SMS scams. Australian telcos have reported that over 257 million SMS scams have been stopped since the rules were implemented in July 2022 through the end of June 2023.

Combating SMS scams is a top ACMA compliance priority, and telcos who disobey ACMA's orders to follow the code could be fined up to $250,000. Following a May announcement about other telcos offering bulk SMS services that had violated the same obligations, this action was taken.

In order to further protect consumers from con artists posing as reputable companies and governmental organisations, the ACMA is currently collaborating with the telco sector to create an SMS sender ID registry.

The Government's Fighting Scams initiative, which aims to combat scams and online fraud and shield Australians from financial harm, includes the SMS Sender ID Registry. The initiative also includes the creation of the National Anti-Scam Centre, which went into operation on July 1, 2023.

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✍️ Cyber Job Corner ✍️

Network Security Operations Specialist

TikTok · Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Responsibilities

TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. Our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok has global offices including Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Singapore, Jakarta, Seoul and Tokyo.

Why Join Us

At TikTok, our people are humble, intelligent, compassionate and creative. We create to inspire - for you, for us, and for more than 1 billion users on our platform. We lead with curiosity and aim for the highest, never shying away from taking calculated risks and embracing ambiguity as it comes.

Here, the opportunities are limitless for those who dare to pursue bold ideas that exist just beyond the boundary of possibility. Join us and make impact happen with a career at TikTok.

About the Team :

You will be a part of the Security Operations team responsible for Enterprise Defense Operations and Platform Management, Hosting Platform Defense Operations, and Global Security Technology Operations. The Security Operations team's primary focus is management of security and defense platforms, technologies, tools, and services supporting security controls across TikTok's environments.

As a Network Security Operations specialist, you will be responsible for supporting the Principal Security Operations Engineer on a team of cross-functional cyber, privacy, and data protection engineers, architects, and analysts to deploy, integrate, and manage technologies to support the security and protection of data in accordance with relevant geographical regulations, contractual commitments, and confidentiality requirements.

Tasks and Responsibilities:

- Support the development and execution of enterprise-wide network security program

- Build technical and functional requirements to configure and deploy network security tooling

- Develop standard operating procedures and trainings for each technology - Architect and continuously improve security technology stack, process and procedures, support model and cross-function interactions

- Review and investigate alerts generated from network security tools (e.g., firewalls, routers) and escalate as appropriate

- Review and assess utilization of network security tooling

- Promote and drive adoption of network security tooling across the enterprise

- Partner across the Security Operations team to respond to cybersecurity incidents

- Develop and report network security coverage metrics and remediation plans - Maintain strong vendor relationships for network security tooling for continuous support

- Define procedures to validate the effectiveness of the design, deployment, and management of security controls that aim to maintain confidentiality, integrity, and availability of networks and technology platforms

Qualifications

- Bachelors’ Degree or industry equivalent work experience in cybersecurity, international security architecture, and/or engineering in a converged security program

- 3+ years applicable experience

- High degree of integrity and trustworthiness and the ability to lead and inspire change

- Demonstrate ability to quickly assimilate to new knowledge and remain current on new developments in cybersecurity capabilities and industry knowledge

- In-depth experience in the following:

- Operating system (OS) hardening

- Antivirus software

- Metadata management

- Asset management

- Change management

- Microservice architecture

- Data leakage/content monitoring and filtering

- Configuration of network and host-based firewalls

- Understanding of OWASP and WAF protections

- Knowledge of data and network encryption protocols

Preferred Qualifications:

- CISSP, SSCP, CAP, CCSP, CISM, CSX-P or applicable experience in the Information Security field

- Experience using one or more programming/scripting languages (e.g., Python, Go, Java, etc.)

- Familiarity with source code management tools (e.g., Github, Bitbucket) - Familiarity with securing data across SaaS and IaaS cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Google Cloud Platform)

- Familiarity with securing data across multiple database technologies (e.g., MySQL, Redis, Hive)

- Be able to handle ambiguity and collaborate with a global team

- Be comfortable communicating with business executives and technical teams

TikTok is committed to creating an inclusive space where employees are valued for their skills, experiences, and unique perspectives. Our platform connects people from across the globe and so does our workplace.

At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. To achieve that goal, we are committed to celebrating our diverse voices and to creating an environment that reflects the many communities we reach. We are passionate about this and hope you are too.

In the spirit of reconciliation, TikTok acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.

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