Australia: Age verification errors see some under-16s retain access to banned social media platforms


It’s day one of the social media ban and, unsurprisingly, it hasn’t been a smooth launch.

Many children have already been able to get around the ban in various ways, with age assurance systems misclassifying users and workarounds such as VPNs and make-up tricks being used. The government admitted the ban would not be perfect or instantaneous, but said the loopholes that allowed teens to circumvent the ban would not stay open forever.

Read more…
Source: ABC News


Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • New “BrowserGate” report claims LinkedIn secretly scans user browsers for installed extensions and collects device data

    April 6, 2026

    A new report is alleging LinkedIn uses hidden JavaScript to scan its visitors’ browsers for installed extensions, looks for those that compete with its own sales tools, and then twists its users’ arms until they stop using those and pick LinkedIn’s products, instead. However the social network says this is a smear campaign run by a ...

  • WhatsApp on Windows users targeted in new campaign

    April 1, 2026

    Microsoft researchers found a campaign that abuses WhatsApp attachments to sneak a script onto Windows machines which will lead to the attacker gaining remote control. WhatsApp offers a desktop application for Windows and macOS, which users can synchronize with their mobile devices. Desktop versions of WhatsApp are generally used as extensions of mobile apps rather than ...

  • Cloud Phones: The Invisible Threat

    March 25, 2026

    What began as a simple scheme to inflate social media metrics has evolved into a sophisticated threat that is quietly reshaping the economics of digital fraud. Over the past decade, fraud prevention teams have invested heavily in device fingerprinting and emulator detection and that investment paid off; classic emulators and bot activities became predictable, easy ...

  • Government of Iran Cyber Actors Deploy Telegram C2 to Push Malware to Identified Targets

    March 20, 2026

    The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is releasing this FLASH to disseminate information on malicious cyber activity conducted by actors on behalf of the Government of Iran Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). Specifically, MOIS cyber actors are responsible for using Telegram as a command-and-control (C2) infrastructure to push malware targeting Iranian dissidents, journalists opposed to ...

  • UAE: Up to 100 people arrested by police for filming drone or missile strikes

    March 14, 2026

    Up to 100 people have been arrested by police in the UAE for filming drone or missile strikes, it emerged this morning. Abu Dhabi Police alone have arrested 45 people of multiple nationalities for filming various locations amid current ongoing events and posting clips on social media. In neighbouring Dubai, at least 21 people, including a ...

  • Age verification vendor Persona left frontend exposed

    February 20, 2026

    Researchers investigating Discord’s age-verification checks say they discovered an exposed frontend belonging to Persona, the identity-verification vendor used by Discord. It revealed a far more expansive surveillance and financial intelligence stack than a simple “teen safety” tool. A short while ago we reported that Discord will limit profiles to teen-appropriate mode until you verify your age. ...