Australia spy chief says Chinese hackers probing telecommunications, critical infrastructure
Australia's spy chief said hackers working for the Chinese government and military had probed Australia's telecommunications network and critical infrastructure, warning on Wednesday, November 12, of the potential for disruption to the economy if a sabotage attack were carried out.
The Australian Security Intelligence Organization’s director general of security, Mike Burgess, highlighted the threat of cyber sabotage, describing the activities of the Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon Chinese hacking groups, which he said where "hackers working for Chinese government intelligence and their military."
Burgess warned of the potential impact on the community of widespread telecommunications disruption, including to banks and transport, and through cut-off water supplies and power.
China's embassy in Australia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China routinely denies hacking.
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION / REUTERS
Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net Follow us: Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion
Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital
Check out our Podcasts: Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcher Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein Soundcloud: https://tmt.ph/soundcloud
00:00ASIO is aware of one nation state and no prizes for guessing who, conducting multiple attempts to scan and penetrate critical infrastructure in Australia and other Five Eyes countries, targeting water, transport, telecommunications and energy networks.
00:16You may have heard about the oddly named Salt Typhoon and Vault Typhoon hacking groups. I know many of you are confounded by those silly nicknames, as am I, so let me decode them further.
00:30These hacking groups work for the Chinese government intelligence and military agencies. Both groups were involved in the theft of sensitive information, but the real danger was the threat of sabotage, disruption to critical infrastructure.
00:46Salt Typhoon's intent was espionage. They penetrated the United States telecommunications systems to gain access to the nation's communications through a strategic spying operation.
00:58And they have been probing our telecommunications networks in Australia, too.
01:04In contrast, Vault Typhoon's intent was disruptive. The hackers compromised American critical infrastructure networks to pre-position for sabotage.
01:14The penetrations gave China the ability to turn off telecommunications and other critical infrastructure networks.
01:21And yes, we have seen the Chinese hackers probing our critical infrastructure here as well.
01:28Imagine the implications if a nation state took down all of our networks, or turned off the power during a heatwave, or polluted our water supply, or crippled our financial system.
01:40I assure you these are not hypotheticals. Foreign governments have elite teams investigating these possibilities today.
01:49And there are multiple scenarios where nation states' intent could shift from stealing and meddling to disruption and damage.
Be the first to comment