{"id":5729,"date":"2025-11-12T07:38:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T07:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/?p=5729"},"modified":"2025-11-12T07:38:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T07:38:09","slug":"australias-spy-chief-warns-of-escalating-cyber-threats-from-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prepsaret.com\/news\/australias-spy-chief-warns-of-escalating-cyber-threats-from-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s Spy Chief Warns of Escalating Cyber Threats from China"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia\u2019s top intelligence official has issued a stark warning that hackers associated with China\u2019s government and military are increasingly targeting the nation\u2019s essential infrastructure.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He cautioned that the country faces a growing risk of \u201chigh-impact sabotage\u201d that could have devastating consequences.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mike Burgess, Director-General of the <\/span>Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio)<\/span><\/a>, said the agency is observing \u201cunprecedented levels of espionage,\u201d adding that the likelihood of \u201ccyber-enabled sabotage\u201d is expected to increase significantly over the next five years.<\/span><\/p>\n

He referred to \u201cone nation state \u2013 no prizes for guessing which one \u2013 conducting multiple attempts to scan and penetrate critical infrastructure in Australia\u201d and among its allies, including systems managing water, transport, energy, and telecommunications.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Chinese embassy has been contacted for comment. Burgess warned that authoritarian governments were now more inclined to \u201cdisrupt and destroy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Related story:<\/b> Hackers Linked to Nation-State Breach U.S. Telecom Firm Ribbon Communications<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Chinese Hacker Groups Linked to Espionage and Disruption<\/b><\/h2>\n

Burgess identified two Chinese hacking groups, Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon, that have targeted telecommunications companies in both the United States and Australia.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese groups are hackers working for Chinese government intelligence and their military,\u201d he told business leaders during a forum in Melbourne on Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

He explained that Salt Typhoon\u2019s main objective is espionage, breaking into telecommunication networks in the U.S., and added that \u201cthey have been probing our telecommunication networks here in Australia too.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Volt Typhoon\u2019s operations appear more destructive in nature, compromising U.S. critical infrastructure for possible future acts of sabotage.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd yes, we have seen Chinese hackers probing our critical infrastructure as well,\u201d Burgess said.<\/span><\/p>\n

He warned that such <\/span>attacks <\/span><\/a>are designed to \u201cimpede decision-making, damage the economy, undermine war-fighting capability and sow social discord.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI do not think we \u2013 and I mean all of us \u2013 truly appreciate how disruptive, how devastating, this could be,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Expanding Targets and Economic Impact<\/b><\/h2>\n

Burgess highlighted that even minor outages in communication networks have shown how easily essential services can be disrupted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one phone network not working for less than one day,\u201d he noted, asking people to consider the consequences if \u201ca nation-state took down all the networks\u201d or \u201cturned off the power during a heatwave.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He said foreign intelligence services are increasingly expanding their targets to include private-sector projects, business negotiations, and customer data.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Espionage, he reported, cost Australia about A$12.5 billion ($8.2bn) in 2023\u201324, including around $2 billion in stolen trade secrets and intellectual property.<\/span><\/p>\n

Burgess described the hackers\u2019 operations as \u201chighly sophisticated, using top-notch tradecraft\u201d to infiltrate networks, locate weaknesses, and maintain undetected access that could be used for sabotage \u201cat a time and moment of their choosing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read next:<\/b> The Washington Post Confirms It Was Hit in Oracle-Linked Cyberattack<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australia\u2019s top intelligence official has issued a stark warning that hackers associated with China\u2019s government and military are increasingly targeting the nation\u2019s essential infrastructure.\u00a0 He cautioned that the country faces a growing risk of \u201chigh-impact sabotage\u201d that could have devastating consequences. Mike Burgess, Director-General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio), said the agency is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5731,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[333],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology-news"],"yoast_head":"\nAustralia\u2019s Spy Chief Warns of Escalating Cyber Threats from China<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Australia\u2019s spy chief warns Chinese hackers are targeting vital infrastructure, heightening fears of major cyber sabotage.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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