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Australia's Major Political Parties Targeted by 'Sophisticated State Actor', Prime Minister Says (theguardian.com)

Posted by msmash on from the growing-tension dept.

Australia's major political parties have been targeted by a "sophisticated state actor", according to Scott Morrison (Prime Minister of Australia), as part of a breach of the Parliament House computer network. From a report: The head of the Australian Cyber Security Centre, Alastair MacGibbon, says agencies were unsure what material had been taken in the incident because the rapid remediation efforts had removed some of the forensic evidence. The prime minister confirmed the state-sponsored intrusion in a statement to parliament on Monday, but said there was no evidence of electoral interference and measures had been put in place to "ensure the integrity of our electoral system."

Morrison said he had instructed the Australian Cyber Security Centre "to be ready to provide any political party or electoral body in Australia with immediate support, including making their technical experts available." He said the federal and state electoral commissions and cybersecurity agencies in the states had been briefed and the cybersecurity centre in Canberra had also worked with global anti-virus companies "so the world can detect this malicious activity."

9 of 61 comments (clear)

  1. So who's the state actor? by andydread · · Score: 2

    My vote: China

    1. Re:So who's the state actor? by s4080326 · · Score: 2

      My Vote: Barry Humphries He's a master of disguise and is clearly part of the communist ABC's plot to overthrow the government with independently researched news and current affairs. Not to mention his latest efforts to highlight Australia's natural wonder is clearly targeted at stopping miners from profiting from environmental destruction.

  2. "sophisticated state actor" by mapkinase · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Why do we keep inventing new words? Acts of foreign government are either "espionage" or "sabotage".

    And it has been the extension of diplomacy for a long long time. Like in "war is extension of diplomacy".

    Espionage is normal. Sabotage is less normal and more hostile, but it's much less than an act of war....

    --
    I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
    1. Re:"sophisticated state actor" by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      Why do we keep inventing new words?

      We don't. None of these words are new and none of them seem to mean what you think they do. Espionage though typically used to describe an act by governments is not exclusively used so.

      Embrace the english language. "Sophisticated" tells us about the attack quality, "state actor" tells us about the attacker, "espionage" or "sabotage" tells us about the purpose.

      You want to know why the words espionage and sabotage aren't being used? Well that's because not every government wants to resort to unsubstantiated hyperbole, in this case the purpose is either unknown (as stated) or willfully obfuscated.

  3. Well deserved by Guspaz · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is the same government that recently banned secure encryption in Australia (by mandating backdoors in all secure systems). The fact that said government just got hacked is simply delicious irony.

  4. Help! Truth!! We're melting!!! by Archtech · · Score: 3, Funny

    'Australia's major political parties have been targeted by a "sophisticated state actor"...'

    OMG it's Putin! He's weaponized truth!!

    --
    I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
  5. Re:A thought... by 110010001000 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Google?

  6. Re:A thought... by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 5, Funny

    Which is the most "sophisticated state actor" you can think of?

    Why, Ronald Reagan, of course.

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  7. Re:And China gets blamed yet again by godel_56 · · Score: 2

    Once again, the finger is being pointed at China, despite the hack being untraceable and the perpetrator(s) unknown. My own suspicion is that it's another US hack, as they have by far the worst track record for this, with literally thousands of their hacks and bugs detected each year. And that's just in Australia, who is supposed to be an ally.

    The US doesn't have to hack us, we're part of the Five Eyes group and we tell them everything they want to know.