Australia claims victim of 'state actor' cyber attack

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The island continent is in the grip of a massive state-led cyber attack, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said at an emergency press conference in Canberra.

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The operation targets government, administrative and corporate IT systems, the Australian Prime Minister said Friday, June 19. Scott Morrison organized an emergency press conference in Canberra to warn his fellow citizens of the “  specific risks  ” to which they were exposed.

"  Australian organizations are currently being targeted by a sophisticated state actor,  " he said. According to him, "  this activity targets Australian organizations in a wide range of sectors, at all levels of government, the economy, political organizations, health services and other operators of strategic infrastructure  ".

According to Australian media, the list of suspects is very small, among the states with know-how in this area: apart from Western countries, China, North Korea, Iran, Israel or Russia.

Beijing suspect number one

All eyes are on the side of China. Morrison's government had angered Beijing by calling for an independent international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic , and by denouncing aggressive and dishonest Chinese diplomacy. China responded by discouraging its nationals from Australia as a destination for tourism and study, threatening further reprisals, and sentencing an Australian to death for drug trafficking. Beijing also imposed punitive customs duties in May against certain Australian exports.

► Read also: "Do not go to Australia", the Beijing-Canberra battle post-coronavirus

Morrison said Friday he informed the opposition of these " malicious  " computer attacks  , and urged institutions and businesses to "  protect themselves  ". He did not give any technical details, but indicated that the personal data of the Australians had not been stolen and that many attacks had failed. "  We encourage organizations, particularly those in health, strategic infrastructure and essential services to use experts and put in place technical defense systems . "

(AFP)

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• Australia
• Cybercriminality

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