Chinese hackers attacked Western Australia's Parliament during state election: Report
CANBERRA: Chinese hackers reportedly attacked Australia's Western
parliamentary email network earlier this month as a part of a massive
global cyber-attack involving Microsoft software.
The online strike,
which was detected on March 4 in the middle of the state election
campaign, prompted intervention from Australia's cybersecurity watchdog
in Canberra, reported Australian ABC. "Please be advised that the Parliament mail server has been hit with a cyber-attack," WA politicians were warned at the time.
"Consequently,
the mail server will be down until further notice," a text message sent
by the Department of Parliamentary Services advised. An investigation
by Western Australia's Parliamentary Services Department has since
concluded no sensitive data was stolen in the attack.
"As soon as we
became aware of the attack, we immediately disconnected the email
server," WA's Executive Manager of Parliamentary Services Rob Hunter
told the ABC.
On March 3, and again on March 9, the
Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) published an alert on its
website urging organisations using Microsoft Exchange to urgently patch a
number of vulnerabilities. Earlier this month, Microsoft said that the
flaw was being used by a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group to target
a variety of organizations.
Cybersecurity group FireEye said in a
blog post late Thursday night that hackers had been in at least one
client's system since January, and that they had gone after "US-based
retailers, local governments, a university, and an engineering firm,"
along with a Southeast Asian government and a Central Asian telecom
group.
Last week, Australian Assistant Defence Minister Andrew Hastie told the ABC
the government would not publicly discuss which public or private
organisations may have been hit by the attack. "It's time we start
thinking about the cyber domain as a battlefield and you certainly don't
advertise where you're weak, wounded or vulnerable on the battlefield,"
he said.
In a statement, the Chinese Embassy described the allegation behind the attack as "deplorable".
Last
year, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that Australia's government
and institutions are being targeted by ongoing sophisticated state-based
cyber hacks. Morrison said the cyberattacks were widespread, covering
"all levels of government" as well as essential services and businesses.
In 2019, the Australian National University said it had been hacked
by a sophisticated operation that had accessed staff and student
details. Australia's main political parties and parliament were hit by a
"malicious intrusion" earlier in 2019, also attributed to a
"sophisticated state actor".
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