Asio accuses Chinese hackers of seeking access to Australia’s criticial infrastructure | Australia news
Australia’s intelligence agency has accused “Chinese hackers” of trying to access critical infrastructure assets, including telecommunications networks.
Speaking at a business forum in Melbourne, Mike Burgess, director general of the Australian Security and Intelligence Agency, said the country now faced the threat of “high-impact sabotage”.
Burgess touched on the activities of two hacking units known as Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon, which he said were “working for the Chinese government and military.” He said the groups were successfully targeting the United States.
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“Salt Typhoon’s purpose was espionage; they infiltrated the US telecommunications system to gain access to the nation’s communications through a strategic espionage operation,” Burgess said.
“We have also seen Chinese hackers probing our critical infrastructure.”
Burgess said Typhoon Volt’s goal was to compromise American critical infrastructure networks to “pre-position them for potential sabotage.”
“The leaks gave China the ability to shut down telecommunications and other critical infrastructure,” Burgess said. “And yes, we have also seen Chinese hackers probing our critical infrastructure.”
Burgess did not say which Chinese entities were targeting Australian infrastructure and whether they had gained access.
“Once access is gained – once the network is penetrated – what happens next is a matter of intent, not ability,” Burgess said.
“I don’t think we really appreciated how devastating, how destructive this could be.”
Infrastructure assets targeted among Western allies also include transportation, water and energy networks, Burgess said.
The Chinese embassy has been contacted for a response.
China’s infiltration of US telecommunications systems by Salt Typhoon late last year has been described as the worst hack in American history.
The hack infiltrated dozens of US telecommunications companies and included data on senior political figures, including President-elect Donald Trump; new vice president J.D. Vance; and defeated Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Before this yearBurgess said “sabotage of critical infrastructure through espionage” could cost the Australian economy more than $1 billion. He estimated that if the outage lasted a week, the cost could rise to $6 billion.
Burgess also touched on previously unreported allegations of espionage targeting Australian companies.
The chief executive has accused unnamed “nation state hackers” of stealing commercially sensitive information from a major Australian exporter and gaining a significant advantage in subsequent contract negotiations.
“In another case, they stole the plans for an innovation in Australia and mass-produced cheap imitations that nearly bankrupted the innovator,” Burgess said.
“A visiting academic with ties to a foreign government broke into a restricted technology laboratory and filmed its contents.”
Burgess also told the forum organized by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission that his agency was “tracking a disturbing rise in anarchist and revolutionary extremism, mostly targeting industry”.
“Since October 23, anti-Israel activists have increasingly used destructive tactics such as arson, vandalism and violent protests targeting companies accused of supplying weapons components,” Burgess said.
“Rapid advances in technology are triggering and accelerating these security concerns.”
