MP, staffers hacked in WhatsApp attack by ‘foreign state actor’, inquiry told
An Australian parliamentarian and three staffers were targeted in a successful WhatsApp hack thought to have been orchestrated by a “foreign state actor”, a Senate hearing has heard.
Mike Webb, chief information officer for the Department of Parliamentary Services, told the hearing on Monday that the accounts of unnamed parliamentarians and staff fell prey to “a spear phishing targeting parliamentarians and staff” on March 6.
Mr. Webb said authorities had received reports of WhatsApp accounts, both personal and linked to DPS-managed devices, being hacked and hijacked in the same manner.
“We temporarily blocked WhatsApp web on March 9… and this is largely because these are personal WhatsApp accounts that we do not manage or control,” he said, adding that the lockout was listed the following Sunday.
When asked who was behind the attack, Webb said there was “evidence of a foreign state actor.”
“There have been numerous public reports of state-sponsored WhatsApp phishing campaigns targeting government officials,” he said.
“Numerous governments around the world have issued warnings of such attacks, including Germany, the Netherlands, the United States and a number of other countries.
“So this is aimed at our lawmakers, but this is a real, global problem.”
Mr Webb said he did not know the extent of communication between officials over personal WhatsApp accounts during the lockdown.
He said the “flow” occurs when one person “posing as a trusted source” reaches out to another person, such as another senator.
Asked if he had concerns about the use of WhatsApp, Mr Webb said parliamentarians would be “high value targets” regardless of the platform.
Deputy secretary and chief operations officer Nicola Hinder told the hearing that there had been 46 malware detections since March 31, as well as more than 20,000 phishing attempts.
He said there were a further 1,458 “cyber alerts which were attempts to bomb the website or details on the website” used by MPs.
“We have stated before, without much discussion, that we are experiencing a high number of cases,” he said.
“I think it’s also cyclical. I think there are times when we get much higher and there are times when attention is clearly directed elsewhere.”
The hearing was told that it was “very, very difficult, almost impossible” to attribute the attacks to specific actors.
