Australia: Hundreds of kids to be tested for disease after childcare rape charge
The eight children - all under the age of five - who police allege were harmed attended the Creative Gardens Early Learning Centre in Point Cook, in Melbourne's south-west.Brown is accused of child rape and sexual assault offenses, as well as producing and transmitting child abuse material.Detectives are also investigating alleged offences by Brown at a childcare centre in Essendon "as a priority". At a press conference, authorities said he had a valid working with children check and was employed as a fill-in childcare worker when he was arrested.Brown was not known to them before the investigation, they said, adding that they believed he acted alone and had only worked at centres in Victoria. Revealing Mr Brown's identity was an "unusual decision", Victoria Police's Janet Stevenson said, but this is a "unique" case."It's very important to ensure that every parent out there that has a child in childcare knows who he is and where he worked," she said.Chief Health Officer Christian McGrath would not reveal whether Mr Brown had tested positive to sexually transmitted infections, but said the manner of the alleged offending meant some children may be recommended for screening for infectious diseases.About 2,600 families had been contacted, with 1,200 children recommended for testing, she said, adding that the infections that the children may have been exposed to can be treated with antibiotics.Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said she was "sickened" by the allegations."My heart breaks for the families who are living every parent's worst nightmare," she said.Families across Victoria will be "angry and frightened" by the case, Allan said, adding that a dedicated website has been set up for those impacted.
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Telegraph
20 minutes ago
- Telegraph
The M&S ‘Scattered Spider' hackers are coming for your holidays
If air traffic control strikes, errant drones and climate protesters weren't enough to contend with, the aviation industry has a new antagonist threatening to grind things to a halt: hackers. This week it emerged that the secretive 'Scattered Spider' group who attacked M&S and Co-op are targeting the aviation industry. Charles Carmakal, an executive at Google's cybersecurity unit, said that his firm was 'aware of multiple incidents in the airline and transportation sector which resemble the operations [of] Scattered Spider.' Sam Rubin, of Palo Alto Networks, said his company had 'observed Muddled Libra (also known as Scattered Spider) targeting the aviation industry.' While neither Rubin nor Carmakal specified which airlines have been targeted, Hawaiian Airlines and WestJet have recently suffered cyber attacks. WestJet said the incident affected 'some services and software systems' including its app, but neither airline suffered operational disruption due to the breach. The issue is not isolated to North America. On Monday June 30, Qantas suffered a major cyber attack, reportedly compromising the personal data of up to six million customers. A spokesperson for the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) told The Telegraph: 'We are aware of rumoured activity. We are in contact with the National Cyber Security Centre and have warned our industry contacts about this group and the techniques they use.' One of the things that the CAA would have told their industry contacts is that when Scattered Spider targets an industry, the attack tends to be sustained and relentless for a period. If aviation is next in line, how could a hack play out, and what can you do to protect your holiday? Worrying potential There are a few different avenues for the hackers. One would be to target airlines' corporate infrastructure. In 2018, 380,000 British Airways customers had their credit card details stolen in a major data breach. Bookings made in a two-week window had been infiltrated in a 'very sophisticated, malicious criminal' attack, according to the airline's former CEO Alex Cruz. The airline was later fined £20m for the security breach. A second scenario is that ground systems could be targeted. In 2015, Poland's flag carrier LOT cancelled 10 flights after hackers infiltrated the computer systems that issued flight plans from Warsaw's Chopin Airport. But the scale could be much bigger than this. In 2023, the US Federal Aviation Administration's 'Notice to Airmen' (NOTAM) system suffered a three-hour outage. The result was that all flights across the US were grounded for the first time since 9/11, leaving 11,000 aircraft stuck on tarmac across the country. While this was a hardware issue, not a malicious hack, it highlights the potential impact of a sudden IT meltdown. The third, and perhaps most worrying scenario, is that in-flight systems could be infiltrated. Earlier this year, several aircraft coming into land at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington DC received false mid-air collision warnings, even though there were no other planes in the area. The pilots receiving the alerts disconnected autopilot and climbed rapidly. It is unknown whether this was caused by the deliberate, malicious 'spoofing' of airline systems, or if it was due to an error or another cause. Regardless, it is an example of how hackers could potentially enter the cockpit in the future, putting pilots into compromised scenarios. This week's Qantas data breach suggests hackers are already targeting the databases of airlines. But given the nature of Scattered Spider's previous high-profile, high-impact attacks, scenarios two or three should not be ruled out. 'Hacking groups thrive on attention, and with families about to start jetting off on their summer holidays, the potential to attack and extort an airline is irresistible,' says Matt Saunders of Adaptavist, a tech consultancy which works with major airlines. 'The good news is that a potential hacking attempt should not cause safety issues for passengers, as any safety-critical IT systems will already have a manual backup option which maintains the highest safety standards in the event of an unwelcome intrusion,' he added. How to hack-proof your holiday There are steps that we, the passenger, can take to protect ourselves from cyber attacks. Paying for your holiday with a credit card is preferable; if somebody makes unauthorised payments on your card you will be protected by the Consumer Credit Act, meaning the process of reclaiming your lost funds will be more straightforward. Regularly changing the password for your online account with an airline's website or app will also help to protect it from the rising issue of air-mile theft. And, as always, avoid booking tickets on public Wi-Fi networks which might not be encrypted, potentially putting your data at risk. When it comes to the larger scale hacking incidents, we can only rely on the strength of airline security systems – which are, by all accounts, becoming more powerful. In 2024 alone, the aviation industry spent $37bn (£27bn) on IT systems, and airports spent $9bn (£6.5bn). Around half of airlines and three quarters of airports are in the process of safeguarding data and upgrading IT systems. 'Defending against these risks requires more than perimeter controls – it demands continuous workforce education, Zero Trust principles, phish-resistant multi-factor authentication and identity verification that can't be socially engineered,' stresses Jordan Avnaim of identity security company, Entrust. Recent cyber attacks on Hawaiian, WestJet and Qantas did not affect flight operations, which should give us hope. Nevertheless, the fact that the shelves in some M&S stores were empty for six weeks and its online orders were suspended – to the sum of £300m – shows why airports, airlines and passengers should remain on high alert.
BreakingNews.ie
22 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Grandmother denies assaulting toddler who died after head injury
A grandmother accused of the murder of a two-year-old has denied assaulting the child. Kerry Ives, 46, and her husband Michael Ives, 47, are alleged to have been in the living room of their home in Flintshire, North Wales, with grandson Ethan Ives-Griffiths on August 14th, 2021 when he suffered a 'catastrophic' head injury, leading to his death two days later. Advertisement Giving evidence at Mold Crown Court on Wednesday, she was asked by Owen Edwards KC, defending: 'Did you assault Ethan on August 14th?' She replied: 'No.' Ives also denied seeing, helping with or encouraging an assault on that date. The grandmother, who wiped her eyes with a tissue at points during her evidence, described Ethan as a 'bubbly little child' and said he came to stay at their home in Garden City from about June 24th, 2021 for a few weeks, before going back to his mother – her daughter, Shannon Ives. Advertisement Shannon and Ethan then both came to stay at the house from July 16th until his death, the court heard. Asked how her daughter behaved towards Ethan, she said: 'She used to smack him, up the head.' After Mr Edwards asked in what circumstances that would happen, Ives said: 'He'd probably pissed her off, just by laughing at her if she told him off.' She said on August 14th she noticed a red mark on Ethan's face after he had been in the bedroom with his mother. Advertisement Ives said she did not see Shannon hit Ethan that day, but was later reminded of her defence statement in which she said she saw Shannon strike her son to his head as they walked to the living room. She told the court she was in the living room with her husband that evening, while Shannon was upstairs, when she turned and saw Michael Ives catching Ethan. Ives said: 'Michael picked him back up and then he did it again so Michael lay him on the carpet.' Asked how it looked, she said: 'It was horrible.' Advertisement She said she shouted for Shannon, who came down from upstairs and later called her other daughter, Nicole, over Facetime, the court heard. The accused said: 'Nicole had gone through something similar with her son. I just needed some advice for what to do.' She then rang an ambulance, but the court heard the time between Kerry Ives shouting for her daughter to come downstairs and phoning emergency services was 18 minutes. Ives said: 'I was panicking. I didn't know what was going on.' Advertisement Kerry Ives, originally from Wolverhampton, accepted the way her husband carried Ethan, by his arm, in CCTV footage from August 4th, 2021, was 'cruel'. She said: 'It wasn't nice.' Ives said at the time she did not see her husband holding Ethan in that way and denied the footage showed her watching as Ethan was carried from a trampoline in the back garden. She said: 'I was just staring, that's what I usually do, just stare and glaze.' Asked what she would have done if she had seen her husband carrying the toddler like that, she said: 'I'd have told him to pack it in.' She accepted she did see him lift Ethan over a railing by his arm in later footage which was shown to the court. Gordon Cole KC, defending Shannon Ives, said: 'Do you regret how Michael treated Ethan?' She said: 'Yes.' When Mr Cole asked why she had not initially told the jury she had seen her husband carry Ethan like that, she said: 'I can't answer.' She added: 'I'm not protecting him.' Michael and Kerry Ives, of Kingsley Road, Garden City, deny murder, an alternative count of causing or allowing the death of a child, and cruelty to a person under 16. Shannon Ives, of Nant Garmon, Mold, denies causing or allowing the death of a child and cruelty to a person under 16.
Daily Mail
30 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Read the chilling text parents were sent at daycare centre where worker is accused of vile abuse of children - as they speak out about their nightmare
A disturbing text message sent to parents whose children could have had contact with accused predator Joshua Dale Brown has been revealed. Brown has been charged with 70 offences, including sexual penetration of a child, producing child abuse material and recklessly contaminating goods to cause alarm or anxiety. The latter charge refers to alleged contamination of food with bodily fluids. His arrest triggered a public health alert, with Victoria's Chief Health Officer warning that 1,200 children should get STI testing. A mass text message was sent to families linked to childcare centres where Brown worked. One mother, whose identity is protected for legal reasons, has spoken publicly after discovering her child had attended a centre where Brown was employed. The woman received a text message and said getting further information was difficult. 'I was on hold with the Victorian Government hotline for three hours,' she told the ABC, and added she went to the centre in person and encountered a distraught staff member. 'They told me there had been a person who had been charged with sexual abuse and things related to children and that person had worked in the centre at a point in time as well,' Julie said. The message the woman and others families received urged their children, who are under the age of five, to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases. 'Thank you for speaking with me today. It is recommended your child be tested for chlamydia and gonorrhoea. Please show this message to your urgent care clinic.' it said. The woman said she was furious about how little direct communication was given, and said she only learned about the allegations when the news broke publicly. Chief Health Officer Christian McGrath acknowledged the delays but said 1300 families were supported over the phone on Tuesday. 'I should have been contacted earlier, particularly before the media release. I shouldn't be finding out off the TV,' the mother said. It was revealed on Wednesday that a second Victorian man has been charged with 45 child sex offences as part of the police investigation into Brown. Michael Simon Wilson has been charged with offences including bestiality, rape and possession of child abuse material, according to court documents seen by the ABC. It is understood Brown and Wilson are known to each other, but Wilson's charges are not connected to any childcare centre and involve different alleged victims. Federal law reforms have been flagged after the allegations were revealed, including cutting funding for childcare centres that fail to meet minimum standards. The rapid government response, however, doesn't tackle the root causes of issues in a sector where half of all educators had been working for less than three years, early education advocate Lisa Bryant said. The industry has a highly casualised and underpaid workforce and it was dominated by private operators whose motive was to make money, she said. 'The primary thing about making money is that you cut the number of educators and the quality of the educators,' Ms Bryant said. 'If you're working with the same educators and the children all know you, that's really protective. Having a lot of casuals coming through your centre is not.' Brown had worked at 20 childcare facilities since 2017. Families of children who need testing will be entitled to $5000 payments to cover the cost of parents taking leave from work, travel and other requirements. The Victorian government has ordered a child safety review. It must be completed by August 15, with making CCTV mandatory in centres a major focus. 'It's a deterrent, if nothing else,' Premier Jacinta Allan said. Wilson and Brown will both appear at Melbourne Magistrates' Court on September 15.
