China behind major cyber attack on Australian governments and businesses

Federal Government agencies believe that China is the nation behind ongoing cyber attacks on Australian institutions, including hospitals and state-owned utilities, in recent months.

Key points:

China is believed to be behind the wide-ranging attacks on Australian governments and businesses

The Prime Minister says there have not been large-scale personal data breaches

The Government will not say publicly which state is behind the cyber attack

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australian organisations, including governments and businesses, were currently being targeted by a sophisticated foreign "state-based" hacker.

While Mr Morrison said the Government would not take the formal step of publicly naming which state, senior sources confirmed China is believed to be behind the malicious attacks.

The Prime Minister emphasised the attacks "hadn't just started", were ongoing and constant threats to Australia, and said the accumulation of attacks required a firm warning to the government and private sectors to harden their shields.

Some of the attacks have been on state government departments and agencies and local governments, all of which hold sensitive economic and personal data.

"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," Mr Morrison said.

"We know it is a sophisticated state-based cyber actor because of the scale and nature of the targeting and the tradecraft used."

Mr Morrison said, so far, it did not appear there had been any "large-scale" breaches of people's personal information, but described the attacks as "malicious".

"This is why we are raising this matter today," he said.

"To raise awareness of this important issue, to encourage organisations, particularly those in health, critical infrastructure and essential services, to take expert advice and implement technical defences to thwart this malicious cyber activity."

Federal Labor Leader Anthony Albanese said he received a full briefing on the ongoing attacks and the work being done by intelligence agencies.

"There is no difference between the Government and Opposition on these issues, none," he said.

Mr Albanese said there had "clearly been an increase" in the number of attacks, which in turn prompted the Prime Minister to issue the warning to Australian businesses and organisations this morning.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-19/foreign-cyber-hack-targets-australian-government-and-business/12372470

State Media Australia