Political parties hacked by foreign power as Home Affairs department quizzed over Manus Island contract
Australia’s top spy says the cyber attack on parliament and the nation’s major political parties by a foreign power was ‘sophisticated’ as agencies reveal they don’t know if hackers saw or stole classified information.
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Australia’s top spy has described the cyber attack on parliament and the nation’s three major political parties by a foreign power as “sophisticated”.
ASIO chief Duncan Lewis also warned the current scale of foreign intelligence activity against Australia at the moment was “unprecedented”.
The spy chief would not reveal whether the threat had been “neutralised” but said there had been “penetrations” of Parliament House’s computer network and the systems which support the Labor, Liberal and National parties.
“I don’t want to go into detail of what has been stopped and started. I am satisfied it has been managed within an inch of its life,” he told a Senate estimates hearing in Parliament today.
“It is a sophisticated attack on, in the first instance, parliamentary services, and in the second instance, on the three major political parties and their systems.”
He added that there was no evidence the nation’s electoral commissions had been compromised.
In his opening remarks, Mr Lewis said: “Hostile intelligence activity poses a real and existential threat to Australia’s security and sovereignty.”
“The harm from this threat may not manifest for many years, even decades after the activity has occurred.”
Mr Lewis also said he was concerned about reporting in Australian, foreign and foreign language media over the weekend “wrongly asserting” that the Chinese community in Australia was being targeted by ASIO and the national intelligence community.
“This is simply not so,” he said, noting the “assertions” were triggered by “one individual” having their permanent residency status removed.
He did not name Chinese businessman Huang Xiangmo, who was recently stripped of his permanent residency and had his application to become an Australian citizen denied.
Mr Lewis said ASIO did not target individuals based on their race, religion or ethnicity.
“It’s critical that we avoid commentary that will instil fear and taint such a community which makes such a positive contribution to Australian life, to our economy and to our culture,” he said.
“As the DG of Security, I can say categorically that from a security point of view the overwhelming majority of people with Chinese heritage here in Australia are of no investigative interest to ASIO as they are not of security concern.”
University of NSW cyber director Nigel Phair said the cyber attack would “absolutely” be related to Australia’s upcoming election.
He added that China, Russia, North Korea or Iran had the capacity to under take such an attack.
THE BIG UNKNOWN ABOUT POLITICAL CYBER HACK
Meanwhile, the head of the Australian Cyber Security Centre Alastair MacGibbon revealed Australian’s intelligence agencies “don’t know” if foreign hackers have seen or stolen classified information through the attack.
Mr MacGibbon also revealed today the nation’s intelligence agencies may have inadvertently removed forensic evidence in a bid to immediately halt the attack.
Asked today what the hackers had “got their hands or their eyeballs on”, Mr MacGibbon said: “We don’t know. These are very early days.”
“What we know is that a malicious state actor has gained access to various networks,” Mr MacGibbon told reporters in Canberra.
PM: FOREIGN HACKERS HIT MPS AND PARLIAMENT
It comes after Prime Minister Scott Morrison revealed today foreign hackers had launched cyber attacks on Australia’s three major political parties and the nation’s parliament.
A “sophisticated state actor” was behind the cyber attack on Parliament House’s computer network two weeks ago, Mr Morrison said today, but was unable to name the country responsible.
The Labor, Liberal and National parties had been targeted by the foreign hackers at the same time parliament was hacked, he said.
It comes less than four months before the federal election and following foreign interference in elections in the US and France.
The attack is likely to come up when spy agency the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) fronts parliament for Senate estimates at 1.30pm AEDT.
China was behind a previous cyber attack on parliament in 2011 but last week rejected suggestions it was behind the most recent attack.
JUMP TO: Government could face another defeat in lower house
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“I do not propose to go into the detail of these operational matters but our cyber experts believe that a sophisticated state actor was responsible for this malicious activity,” Mr Morrison said in a statement to parliament today.
“Let me be clear though there is no evidence of any electoral interference.
“We have put in place a number of measures to ensure the integrity though of our electoral system.
“I have 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.”
All users of the parliamentary computing network, including MPs, senators and staffers, were required to change their passwords after the attack on Parliament House on February 7 and 8.
China was likely behind the cyber attack, Australian Strategic Policy Institute executive director Peter Jennings told News Corp.
Mr Jennings said very few countries had the capacity to conduct the attack and fewer still had interest in Australia.
He said the cyber attack was “deliberated and targeted”.
“This is not random data gathering,” Mr Jennings said.
“It can’t be unrelated to the fact that we’ve got an election in 12 weeks or something.”
Opposition leader Bill Shorten said the cyber attack was a matter of “grave concern”.
“Australia is not exempt or immune from the kind of malicious activity that we’ve seen elsewhere,” he said.
He noted the nation’s political parties were not as well protected as its government institutions and could be a “soft target”.
HOME AFFAIRS FACES QUESTIONS OVER CONTENTIOUS CONTRACT
Meanwhile, Peter Dutton’s Home Affairs department is set to be grilled over a contentious $423 million contract for security on Manus Island that was awarded to a company which reportedly operates out of a beach shack.
Home Affairs officials will face questions on the contract awarded to Paladin in a closed tender process when Senate estimates begin at Parliament House today.
The company was reportedly registered to a beach shack at the end of a dirt road on Kangaroo Island, before moving its headquarters to an office in Canberra.
It will be yet another headache for Scott Morrison, whose control of parliament is set to be tested again today when Labor pushes for stronger legal protections for small businesses.
Attorney-General Christian Porter said there was a full and independent process in place for the contentious multimillion-dollar deal awarded to Paladin.
“This was the subject of a full independent Commonwealth procurement process and I’m sure that the claims will be investigated,” Mr Porter told the ABC’s Insiders program yesterday.
But Labor frontbencher Penny Wong says the government had questions to answer.
“It’s deeply concerning that we’ve had $423 million of your (taxpayer) money going to a company which has got such a poor track record,” Labor senator Penny Wong said.
Mr Dutton has said he had no line-of-sight over the tender process.
“Standard procurement processes are often at arms length from the minister,” Mr Porter said.
“The reality is that doing these types of things offshore in Papua New Guinea and in Nauru is a very costly exercise.”
Opposition leader Bill Shorten accused Mr Dutton of being “yet again at the centre of an incompetency scandal” today, while questioning whose responsibility the contract was if not the Home Affairs Minister.
Mr Shorten also called on the government to establish a royal commission into abuse in the disability sector, rather than just have a “token vote” on it today.
“Even if you are having a vote because you are a divided government and have lost control of parliament, for goodness sakes, for the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people living with disability, for all their families and carers, we need to do something different and this royal commission will be the circuit breaker which people have been calling for many years,” he said.
The Home Affairs department also faces scrutiny over its role in the months-long detention in Thailand of refugee footballer Hakeem al-Araibi.
HISTORY REPEATS?
The Coalition government suffered an embarrassing loss last week over asylum seeker medical transfers, and history could be repeated when federal parliament returns today.
Legislative changes making it easier for small businesses to legally challenge corporate giants could be the next problem for the prime minister.
Small businesses would be able to apply in court to avoid paying the legal costs of blue chip firms, even if they lose the case.
Shadow assistant treasurer Andrew Leigh believes several National Party MPs could cross the floor to support the proposal, and is confident it will pass.
“I think it’s got support from Nationals who have been agitating internally since 2016 when Labor announced this policy,” he said.
“They recognise the benefits for their constituents of being able to take on the big end of town without risking being bankrupted by the other side’s legal costs.”
Mr Morrison claimed today Labor’s support for the medevac bill was essentially a vote to end offshore processing.
“What this is about, let’s make no mistake, is shutting down offshore processing,” he told Sydney radio station 2GB.
“That’s what it’s about. That’s what Labor voted for. They did it with their eyes wide open.”
The Prime Minister also claimed Labor’s move had forced him to re-open the Christmas Island detention centre, which the government estimates will cost more than $1 billion over several years.
Under the new laws, two “treating doctors” will be able to request Home Affairs transfer a refugee to Australia for treatment.
The case will then be referred to the Immigration Minister, who will have 72 hours to approve or reject the transfer.
The minister can reject the transfer if they don’t think it’s medically necessary, if the person fails a character test or if ASIO recommends against it based on a security assessment.
Only asylum seekers already on Manus Island or Nauru will be eligible for the transfers, not new arrivals.
BORDER ISSUE GIVES COALITION POLL BOOST
Labor’s lead over the Coalition has been cut dramatically in the latest Ipsos poll published by Nine Newspapers, narrowing to 51 to 49 per cent.
That’s down from 54 to 46 per cent in December.
It puts the Coalition back into election contention and comes after Mr Morrison’s attack on Labor last week over border security following the medevac bill passing.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott says the government can “come back” to win the election in May.
“Governments that have conviction and character can come back,” he told 2GB today.
“What I think we’ve seen from the prime minister and from his senior ministers over the last few months is conviction and character.”
He added that boat arrivals and “deaths at sea” would restart if Labor was elected.
“I am the first to admit that sometimes this government hasn’t been great at politics,” Mr Abbott said.
“For all the political ups and downs, it’s been a highly competent and effective government.”
Mr Shorten declined to comment on the poll today, saying: “People do not want me or any other politician talking about opinion polls or ourselves.”
After teaming up with the crossbench to defeat the coalition over the medevac bill last week, Labor is confident of forcing a vote on capping the amount appliance rental companies can charge for household goods.
“This rip-off has to stop,” opposition backbencher Milton Dick said.
The government will also vote for a motion calling for a royal commission into the violence, abuse and neglect of people with disabilities. The prime minister has promised to consult with the disability sector, states and territories, but has set no time frame for establishing the royal commission.
Senate estimates hearings will start for the first time in 2019 and government departments are already facing serious scrutiny.
Originally published as Political parties hacked by foreign power as Home Affairs department quizzed over Manus Island contract
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