April 29, 2024
The Albanese government is being urged to publicly attribute state-sponsored cyber espionage and sabotage to any foreign government including China when there's enough evidence to do so, following revelations a Chinese hacking group may have already accessed some of Australia's critical infrastructure.
The Weekend Australian revealed the Chinese-backed Volt Typhoon cyber group was active in Australia and targeting essential services, sparking calls for the government to be more transparent about the risks to business and the community.
Opposition home affairs and cyber security spokesman James Paterson said the revelations were yet more reason to take the threat of state-backed cyberenabled espionage and sabotage seriously.
"The government should not hesitate publicly attributing this malign conduct to any foreign government, including China, when there is sufficient evidence to do so," he said.
"I hope they are not putting bilateral relations ahead of Australia's national security by failing to call out these attacks by name.
"There is no innocent reason to seek a dormant presence on the network of civilian infrastructure; it is not the act of a friend.
"The government needs to speak more directly . about this threat so business and the community understand the seriousness of it and take necessary steps to address it." One government source confirmed to The Weekend Australian that Volt Typhoon had accessed some critical systems, while another said it was likely but not certain essential utilities had been breached.
The Australian Signals Directorate and other Five Eyes countries issued joint advice in February calling out the group's aims and methods, while Australian Security Intelligence Organisation director-general Mike Burgess referenced the attacks in his latest threat assessment without naming China as the culprit.
He said one nation state was conducting "multiple attempts to scan critical infrastructure".
Volt Typhoon which has already successfully compromised American critical infrastructure uses "living off the land" techniques, meaning it can lie dormant for years monitoring a company's activities and waiting to strike in the event of a major conflict.
Pressed on whether the government should be calling out state-sponsored cyber espionage and sabotage more often, and not just with Five Eyes partners, Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil's spokesman lashed the opposition for "politicising highly sensitive counter-espionage operations".
"We will not follow the opposition's approach," he said.
"While we understand it would serve Senator Paterson's narrow political agenda, we will not be complicating the difficult, dangerous and extremely delicate work our agencies do every day to keep our country safe by making a running public commentary on it."
