Pyne inquiry push: did gay-porn hackers steal defence secrets?

Labor won’t support an inquiry into the hacking of Christopher Pyne’s Twitter account after it ‘liked’ a gay-porn video.

Christopher Pyne says his Twitter account was hacked.

Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese has ruled out supporting an investigation into the hacking of cabinet minister Christopher Pyne’s Twitter account less than 24 hours after Bill Shorten demanded one.

Mr Albanese said he spoke to Mr Shorten last night and they decided the matter should not be investigated, despite the Opposition Leader yesterday calling for a “serious investigation” while issuing concern defence secrets could have been obtained.

Mr Pyne, who is overseeing Australia’s $50 billion defence manufacturing program, rejected the need for an investigation. His office said the breach happened on his personal Twitter account and had no links with the Defence Department.

Mr Albanese said Labor “certainly wouldn’t be supporting” a Senate motion asking for an investigation into the incident. Mr Shorten said yesterday the party would consider supporting the motion, which is being put forward by Australian Conservatives leader Cory Bernardi.

“I spoke to Bill Shorten last night and we are satisfied that this is a public Twitter account, there is no connection between the Twitter account and Christopher’s defence portfolio, he has taken action to deal with it so as far as we are concerned it is over,” Mr Albanese told the Nine Network.

“We certainly won’t be supporting Cory Bernardi’s resolution before the Senate and the 1980s school boy humour that he has tried on.

“So as far as we are concerned let’s get on with the real issues facing the country.”

Mr Pyne said his Twitter account was hacked yesterday morning after it liked a gay porn video.

Mr Pyne this morning said the hacker may have been a campaigner against same-sex marriage who was trying to embarrass him.

.@cpyne has addressed the hacking incident that saw his official Twitter account "like" a gay porn Tweet. #9Today pic.twitter.com/kXrApz1XYZ

— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) November 16, 2017

He said there were no defence secrets that could have been obtained in the breach and his office had changed the password of his account.

“It is very annoying that my Twitter account was hacked at Thursday morning at 2am, I was very fast asleep at 2am on Thursday morning and we’ve taken the necessary steps that you would take in these situations,” Mr Pyne said.

“It is a private Twitter account it is not a defence or government or parliamentary account, we’ve changed the passwords, we’ve obviously deleted the material, changed our approach in the office to social media and informed Twitter which is the same precedent that we followed that Julie Bishop and Scott Morrison went through when they have the same thing happen to them in 2016 and 2014.

“It is one of those very unfortunate hazards of social media, it is a good reminder to us all, quite frankly, that we need to keep changing our passwords and being aware not everyone out there wishes us good will unfortunately.”

Yesterday, Mr Shorten said the breach was concerning and the government should explain how it happened.

“I actually think when any minister has their account hacked, but in particular any minister when they are the Defence Minister, this is serious,” Mr Shorten said.

“So I do think there should be some investigation and explanation. “We want to make sure that important military and defence information can’t be hacked ... I do think we need to get to the bottom of it. There have been other problems with preserving the security of our defence information with private contractors, so I think it is a worry ...”

“We need to know how deep and far this penetration ... has been.”

Cory Bernardi on claims hackers liked an explicit gay pornographic video using Christopher Pyne’s Twitter account. #auspol pic.twitter.com/dgX7iXwnwn

— Dan Conifer (@DanConifer) November 16, 2017

Bernardi wants investigation

Australian Conservatives senator Cory Bernardi — Mr Pyne’s longtime political rival — moved a motion in the Senate demanding the government investigate the hack. Liberal senator Eric Abetz said the hack of the minister’s “social media account” was a “matter of grave concern”.

At 2am yesterday, Mr Pyne’s Twitter account “liked” a video, from the ­account “XxxPornGay”, of two men in a sexual encounter.

As revellers across the nation celebrated the resounding Yes win following the government’s same-sex-marriage postal survey, the tweet was shared by a Twitter “bot” account, which lists the likes of all federal politicians to its followers.

Mr Pyne, a prominent same-sex-marriage advocate who has come under pressure in recent weeks over his past involvement with GetUp! and factional warring in South Australia, posted a tweet yesterday saying he had been “hacked”.

He suggested the breach could have been made by an opponent of same-sex marriage. “I was hacked overnight! I was (sleeping) at 2am. Someone tried to hack my social media yesterday,” Mr Pyne said.

“Maybe they are making mischief over the plebiscite”.

 

Mr Shorten said yesterday he had sympathy for Mr Pyne — the Leader of the House and a key ally of Malcolm Turnbull — but said an investigation was needed to ensure sensitive information was not obtained by foreign powers. There have been cyber breaches overseas ­involving alleged Russian and Chinese hacks targeting foreign departments, politicians and election campaigns.

Mr Shorten said Labor would consider supporting Senator Bernardi’s motion, which would ask Attorney-General George Brandis to release details to the parliament of an investigation.

“I actually think when any minister has their account hacked, but in particular any minister when they are the Defence Minister, this is serious,” Mr Shorten said. “So I do think there should be some investigation and explanation.

“We want to make sure that important military and defence information can’t be hacked ... I do think we need to get to the bottom of it. There have been other problems with preserving the security of our defence information with private contractors, so I think it is a worry ...”

When contacted by The Australian yesterday, the ASIO refused to say whether it had been asked to investigate.

In October, Mr Pyne admitted the government did not know who hacked information about Australia’s war planes and vessels, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft.

Mr Pyne warned contractors to improve their cyber security if they wanted government business after an overseas entity was linked with that hack.

“This attack ... is a salutary reminder to everyone in the industry and the government about this kind of behaviour going on,” Mr Pyne said in October.

Senator Bernardi tweeted yesterday: “Need full investigation and report in case is foreign agent trying to influence elections.”

He also told Sky News: “These things do happen; it is unfortunate when it happens in the public profile. Who looks at porn at 2am on the night that the gay marriage bill gets up?”

Mr Pyne’s spokesman would not say whether the Twitter account was protected by multi-factor authentication, which requires at least two methods of proof. He said it was “not uncommon” for social media accounts to be hacked, pointing to similar claims by Treasurer Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.

“The account in question was a public, online, social-media account, not a Defence, government or parliamentary social media account,” he said.

“There are no defence or national security implications. It’s a salutary reminder to all of us that not everyone out there wishes us good will, to routinely change passwords and to be mindful of cyber security.

“The minister’s office was alerted by Facebook yesterday that there were attempts to breach his Facebook account.”

Malcolm Turnbull said he was “concerned” by Mr Pyne’s hack, saying it was a lesson to use multi-factor authentication.

“What has happened here is someone has got hold of his password, this is just a reminder that you have got to change passwords regularly and in particular, as would often happen in a political office, if the Twitter account is being operated by a number of people over time there is always a risk that the password becomes known or it might be one that is guessed,” Mr Turnbull said.

The Prime Minister added his iTunes account was hacked “many years ago” and someone used it to buy Cantonese pop songs.

Comments have been closed on this story