Back in the '90s, the Sega Saturn was the most powerful video games console on the market. If the Sony PlayStation was a car, the Saturn was a military tank. But it was an expensive over-engineered machine and it failed to make an impact in the gaming market. So complex was the Saturn that some of its internal functions remained a mystery 20 years on, particularly its elusive digital rights management (DRM) system.

In July, hacker and academic Dr James Laird-Wah managed to crack the DRM and uncover its inner workings. He went through the painstaking process in excruciating detail at hacker conference Ruxcon 2016. Laird-Wah's findings could potentially save the rising number of Sega Saturn consoles with dying CD readers.

Many wireless keyboard and mice setups connect to computers through a USB dongle and boast that this communication is encrypted. This is to stop hackers from sniffing the wireless connection to monitor keystrokes which can reveal sensitive information including passwords. But at Ruxcon 2016, one security researcher has demonstrated that you can still gain access to a computer using a wireless keyboard, even when the connect is protected by AES, one of the most secure data encryption standards around. No keylogging required.

Chinese security researchers have found vulnerabilities in 4G LTE networks that allow hackers to intercept calls and text messages as well block mobile signals to targeted phones. 4G LTE mobile networks are widely used around the world, including in Australia.