Australia’s spy chief said on Wednesday that the hackers linked to the Chinese government and military had targeted the country’s telecommunications systems and critical infrastructure, cautioning that a sabotage attack could seriously harm the nation’s economy.
Cost Of Cyber Sabotage
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s director general of security, Mike Burgess, told a business conference in Melbourne that espionage was estimated to have cost Australia A$12.5 billion ($8.1 billion) last year, including the loss of A$2 billion in trade secrets and intellectual property.
Burgess highlighted the threat of cyber sabotage, describing the activities of the Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon Chinese hacking groups, which he said were “hackers working for Chinese government intelligence and their military”.
Salt Typhoon had not only penetrated U.S. telecommunications systems in a strategic spying operation but also “have been probing our telecommunication networks here in Australia too,” he said.
Volt Typhoon had intention to disrupt, he said, compromising U.S. critical infrastructure to pre-position for potential sabotage.
“We have seen Chinese hackers probing our critical infrastructure as well,” he added.
Impact of Hacking
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.
“I assure you; these are not hypotheticals – foreign governments have elite teams investigating these possibilities right now,” he said.
Other potential scenarios included an Australian company being crippled as a trade competitor, or causing panic during an election, he added.
Chinese officials made multiple complaints to the Australian government and private sector about ASIO whenever he spoke publicly about China, Burgess said last week during a speech at the Lowy Institute in Sydney. “It won’t stop my resolve,” he said.
(With inputs from Reuters)
