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Australia Parliamentary Network Hacked In Possible Foreign Government Attack
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Sydney Morning Herald: National security agencies are continuing to scour the Parliament's computer network for threats to MPs' data after what is being described as a "sophisticated" hack attack that could be the work of a foreign government. Alastair MacGibbon, head of the Australian Cyber Security Centre, said the government's cyber experts would work over coming days and weeks to make sure all the breaches had been detected and the hackers' presence removed. The hacking comes just three months ahead of the federal election, prompting fears that if MPs emails or data were stolen they could be used to cause political interference of the style Russia perpetrated against the United States in the 2016 presidential campaign. Sources said the fact that Parliament had significantly upgraded its cyber defense since an attack by Chinese intelligence agencies in 2011 suggested the latest hackers were highly skilled, potentially pointing to a foreign government. Mr MacGibbon stressed it was too early to say who was behind the attack but said this part of the investigation. The network is used by all MPs, including ministers. House Speaker Tony Smith and Senate President Scott Ryan said in a joint statement there was "no evidence that any data has been accessed or taken at this time, however this will remain subject to ongoing investigation." They said they had no evidence the hack was an effort to "influence the outcome of parliamentary processes or to disrupt or influence electoral or political processes."
.....when your top cyber security advisor is a lowly EL2.
Pay peanuts, get monkeys.
But code litter?
Set around 9 to 5 Moscow time?
IP range?
Powerful Bear code litter left all over the computer?
Will the magic code litter left to be found be Korean, Farsi, Chinese and Russian?
Did all the data move out on a new 100000/100000 network?
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
Just after the opt out cut off date for the my health record too. We can definitely trust the Australian government with the sensitive medical data of the Australian public after something like this happens to their internal systems....
Frankly I really don't know why we, the west, allow interconnects with Russia, China and North Korea.
They are really more trouble than they are worth, cut them off their interconnects and let them pursue their own path.
"prompting fears that if MPs emails or data were stolen they could be used to cause political interference of the style Russia perpetrated against the United States in the 2016 presidential campaign"
Do tell more, what was the actual interference? Or is the Sydney Morning Herald just making stuff up?
Maybe it should read, political interference of the style the US does around the world to push elections whichever way the MIC wants a country to turn.
Australian MPs are starting to learn why private & secure communications are essential for a democracy to function well. Now can they drop the draconian, Orwellian proposals for violating all Australian's privacy?
What security? what detection system? what kind of specialised attack? what foreign government Jimmy's bedroom?
News that does not reveal news.
This posting was typed on a specialised keyboard from a specialised computer on a specialised desktop in a specialised property at a specialised location, on a specialised news story about a specialised hack. In a specialised country in a specialised location. https://youtu.be/ZyasLH9GfRI
Alastair MacGibbon, head of the Australian Cyber Security Centre said, "You might know of some of their entry points and some of the ways they’ve grafted themselves into a system and you can take action against those and do things like the password reset,"
The article stinks of a phishing attack and it sounds like they haven't figured out 2FA yet. Which says a lot about his claims of who could be responsible. Who remembers Comodo?
What is interesting about actual nation state attacks now taking place is if the locales, IPs, timezones, code snippets point to say; China. Well then they've probably been set up. Unless you're NK, they clearly can't hide shit and are happy to take credit. I recall the leaks that WannaCry came from had tools to change code to make it look foreign.
Most governments claim to be open and transparent, yet they all panic when someone accesses their computer files.
... who can barely operate a computer ,let alone recognise if computer security has been compromised.
...and you're an example of what happens when morons fall for any flimsy piece of shit propaganda.
Do you really think Chinese hackers leave calling cards?
Everyone is really quick to start pointing fingers elsewhere but we've known for many decades that the US has been spying on its allies every bit as much as it does on its foes (which it creates with absurd rapidity). Until here is actual solid *evidence* of who is behind this particular incident but believe the US to be by far the most likely culprit, based on past history.
Go to it trolls.
Well if they're anything like Russian hackers they do when they want people to know that they've done something.
The influence of malicious players in your government back in 1996?