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China’s Foreign Ministry has lodged complaints with the Albanese government over a speech from ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess calling out Beijing for state-sponsored hacking and warning of the growing risk of sabotage to Australian critical infrastructure assets.
Burgess told a conference in Melbourne on Wednesday that Chinese government hacking groups Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon had probed telecommunications networks in Australia, as well as the United States.
ASIO boss Mike Burgess said Chinese hackers have been caught trying to access critical infrastructure, with foreign regimes more willing than ever to cause damage.Credit: Eamon Gallagher
In a clear reference to China, Burgess said: “ASIO is aware of one nation state – no prizes for guessing which one – conducting multiple attempts to scan and penetrate critical infrastructure in Australia and other Five Eyes countries, targeting water, transport, telecommunications, and energy networks.
“The reconnaissance is highly sophisticated, using top-notch tradecraft to find your networks, test for vulnerabilities, knock on digital doors and check the digital locks.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun fired back when asked a question about Burgess’ speech at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.
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“In recent months, the Australian official you mentioned has repeatedly hurled attacks at China, spread disinformation and deliberately sowed division and confrontation,” he said.
“China firmly opposes it and has protested with Australia. It’s hoped that the Australian official can stop making irresponsible statements and do more things conducive to the healthy development of China-Australia relations.”
China’s Foreign Ministry posted an identical message to its social media platforms.
Beijing’s top spy agency, the Ministry of State Security, accused Australian intelligence agencies of fabricating a “Chinese espionage threat” while conducting their own operations against China in August after Burgess delivered a speech naming China, Iran and Russia as Australia’s three main sources of espionage activity.
Referring to the Volt Typhoon hacking group, which is believed to operate on behalf of the Chinese government, Burgess said in his speech on Wednesday: “The hackers compromised American critical infrastructure networks to pre-position for potential sabotage.
“The penetrations gave China the ability to turn off telecommunications and other critical infrastructure.
“And yes, we have seen Chinese hackers probing our critical infrastructure as well,” he said before adding: “I do not think we – and I mean all of us – truly appreciate how disruptive, how devastating, this could be.”
Burgess said cyber espionage attacks were “more than foreseeable, they are inevitable, literally happening every day”.
“With global tensions rising, some are more likely to pull the trigger on the higher-harm activities,” he said.
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The Chinese state-owned Global Times claimed in a story responding to Burgess’ speech that the Volt Typhoon narrative was “a fabrication by the US government” and had been concocted by US cybersecurity agencies to secure more funding.
US tech giant Microsoft last year identified Volt Typhoon as “a state-sponsored actor based in China that typically focuses on espionage and information gathering”, a judgment backed by the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network of the US, Australia, UK, Canada and New Zealand.
The Global Times quoted Chen Hong, director of New Zealand Studies Centre at East China Normal University, saying: “Australia’s intelligence agency has long been driven by ideology, repeatedly engaging in baseless smears and attacks against China.”
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