Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Source: AFP
As last week drew to a close, the Australian prime minister unexpectedly held a media conference to reveal that “a sophisticated state-based cyber actor” was targeting multiple levels of the Australian government, critical infrastructure, and private businesses as well in a coordinated cyberattack.
PM Scott Morrison made the public announcement to reportedly raise public awareness, and confirmed that a state-backed cyber attacker – which many news sources believe to be China – “with significant capabilities” is behind a recent, sizable increase in malicious cyber activity in Australia.
“I’m here today to advise you that, based on advice provided to me by our cyber experts, Australian organizations are currently being targeted by a sophisticated state-based cyber actor,’’ Mr Morrison stated on Friday.
“This activity is targeting Australian organizations across a range of sectors, including all levels of Government, industry, political organizations, education, health, essential service providers, and operators of other critical infrastructure.”
The prime minister would not confirm that the threat actor was indeed China, but Australia’s cyber intelligence agency, the Defense Signals Directorate, does suspect China’s Ministry of State Security for last year’s major attack on the Australian Parliament and political parties leadi ..
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