ASIO Chief Alerts Australia to Escalating Cyber Threats with Potential $1 Billion Impact Per Attack

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Australia’s intelligence chief says the nation is “uncomfortably fragile” to cyber attacks from groups linked to foreign governments, warning of disruptive costs to infrastructure.

Addressing a business forum in Melbourne on Wednesday, ASIO director-general Mike Burgess said authoritarian regimes such as China and Russia are increasingly targeting infrastructure assets overseas, including Australia.

He said the impact of the disruptions could be “devastating”.

“I have previously said we’re getting closer to the threshold for high-impact sabotage,” Burgess told the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) forum on Wednesday morning.

Reflecting on the current state of cybersecurity, one stark admission stands out: “Well, I regret to inform you — we’re there now.” This statement underscores a reality that many had hoped to avoid but are now compelled to face.

Burgess said cyber-enabled sabotage could cost the economy $1.1 billion per incident, according to modelling by the Australian Institute of Criminology.

He said the Chinese government was sponsoring Chinese hacking groups Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon to disrupt critical infrastructure.

Referencing reports that Volt Typhoon has been found to gain access to US military bases in Guam in recent year, Burgess said it exposed the “potential sabotage”.

“The penetrations gave China the ability to turn off telecommunications and other critical infrastructure,” he said.

Recent revelations have brought to light that Chinese hackers have been targeting and probing critical infrastructure. This development highlights a growing concern about the vulnerability of essential services to cyber threats from state-sponsored actors.

He said foreign actors were behaving “more aggressively, more recklessly, more dangerously”, highlighting multiple attempts to “penetrate critical infrastructure in Australia and other Five Eyes countries”, stopping short of naming China.

Five Eyes is an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK and US.

“Imagine the implications if a nation-state took down all the networks? Or turned off the power during a heatwave? Or polluted our drinking water? Or crippled our financial system?”

“I do not think we — and I mean all of us — truly appreciate how disruptive, how devastating, this could be.”

Burgess’ speech mimics similar warnings from US and UK intelligence agencies, with the ASIO chief repeatedly appearing alongside Five Eyes intelligence partners to collectively warn of impeding threats.

Moreover, the economic ramifications of such cyber espionage cannot be overstated. The Australian Institute of Criminology estimates that these unprecedented levels of espionage have inflicted a financial toll of approximately $12.5 billion on the economy between 2023 and 2024. This staggering figure underscores the far-reaching impact of cyber intrusions beyond mere operational disruptions.

Burgess urged business leaders to invest in protecting sensitive data, claiming the threats to Australia were “not insurmountable”.

“The threats are foreseeable. The vulnerabilities are knowable. The risks are manageable,” he said.

The speech comes a week after Burgess addressed the Lowy Institute, during which he said that foreign governments could try to assassinate a perceived dissident on Australian soil.

“We believe there are at least three nations willing and capable of conducting lethal targeting here.”

He said ASIO was foiling spy plots overseas and tracking several links of extremist propaganda to mitigate the ongoing heightened threats to Australian security.