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Australia’s prime minister revealed Friday his country was under a broad cyberattack from a “state-based actor” targeting government, public services and businesses, with suspicions falling on China.<\/p>\n
Warning Australians of “specific risks” and an increased tempo of attacks, Scott Morrison told a press conference that a range of sensitive institutions had been hit.<\/p>\n
“This activity is targeting Australian organisations across a range of sectors, including all levels of government, industry, political organisations, education, health, essential service providers, and operators of other critical infrastructure,” he said.<\/p>\n
Morrison levelled blame at a “sophisticated state-based cyber actor”, but declined to name the culprit, while saying that it could only come from one of a handful of states.<\/p>\n
China, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Russia, the United States, and and a number of European countries are known to have developed advanced cyber-warfare capabilities.<\/p>\n
But suspicions immediately fell on Beijing, which has clashed repeatedly with Canberra as it looks to increase the cost of Australia speaking out against Communist Party interests.<\/p>\n
Most recently Australia enraged China by calling for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus<\/a> pandemic.<\/p>\n But Canberra has also pushed back against what it describes as China’s economic “coercion”, covert influence campaigns and the use of technology companies like Huawei<\/a> as a tool of intelligence gathering and geopolitical leverage.<\/p>\n China has warned its students and tourists against going to Australia, slapped trade sanctions on Australian goods and sentenced an Australian citizen to death for drug trafficking.<\/p>\n Last year Australia’s parliament, political parties and universities were targeted by state-backed cyber-attacks, with China seen as the likely culprit.<\/p>\n Public broadcaster ABC cited “senior sources” confirming that China was believed to be behind today’s ongoing attacks as well.<\/p>\n Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Friday that China was “a staunch defender of cyber-security<\/a>” and has “always resolutely opposed and cracked down on all forms of cyber-attacks”.<\/p>\n Beijing has previously described such allegations as “irresponsible” and an attempt to “smear” China.<\/p>\n Experts say attribution is often difficult, time-consuming and, if made public, could escalate tensions further.<\/p>\n ‘Malicious’<\/strong> They included “proof-of-concept exploit code” that targeted vulnerabilities in old versions of Microsoft, Telerik, SharePoint and Citrix products as well as “web shell” software that is uploaded and remains on compromised servers.<\/p>\n The attacks also used “spearfishing” techniques, sending emails with malicious files, links and Office 365<\/a> prompts.<\/p>\n Morrison said that he had notified the leader of the opposition and state premiers of the “malicious” cyber-attacks, but said no personal data had been compromised and many of the attacks were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n “They are not new risks, but they are specific risks,” he said.<\/p>\n “We encourage organisations, particularly those in the health, critical infrastructure, and essential services to take expert advice and to implement technical defences,” he said.<\/p>\n That warning is likely to raise alarm bells as the country’s medical facilities — already on crisis footing because of the coronavirus pandemic — could come under further strain.<\/p>\n Morrison’s vagueness about the threat and its source is deliberate, according to Ben Scott, a former Australian intelligence official now with the Lowy Institute, a think tank.<\/p>\n “Public attribution – and the threat of doing so -– is seen as one way of warning and deterring an opponent,” he said.<\/p>\n “But early attribution can also be provocative,” he added, saying China was “almost certainly” behind the attack.<\/p>\n “Australian agencies may hope that the PM’s statement will deter the attackers from moving on to extract large volumes of information or engaging in any sabotage.”<\/p>\n Australia is part of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network — along with Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States — which give the country access to advanced capabilities, but also makes it a rich target for adversaries.<\/p>\n Tags:<\/b> Agence France-Presse<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The current attack appears designed to hide authorship, using so-called “copy-paste” cyber tools that can be easily found open source, Australia’s signals intelligence agency said.<\/p>\nSee Campaign: <\/strong>https:\/\/gadgets.ndtv.com\/internet\/news\/australias-prime-minister-says-country-under-cyber-attacks-by-state-actor-2249046<\/a>
Contact Information:<\/b>
Agence France-Presse<\/p>\n
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Warning Australians of “specific risks” and an increased tempo of attacks, Morrison said a range of sensitive institutions had been hit. Australia’s prime minister revealed Friday his country was under a broad cyberattack from a “state-based actor” targeting government, public services and businesses, with suspicions falling on China. Warning Australians of “specific risks” and an … Continue reading Australia’s Prime Minister Says Country Under Cyber-Attacks by State Actor<\/span><\/a> Continue Reading