Australia blames foreign ‘state actor’ for hacking political parties

CANBERRA: A “sophisticated state actor” was behind a cyberattack on the Australian Parliament’s computing network that also affected the network used by major political parties, the prime minister said on Monday.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison did not identify the state behind what he described as a “malicious intrusion” on February 8. A joint statement from House of Representatives Speaker Tony Smith and Senate President Scott Ryan said at the time that there was no evidence that data had been accessed in the breach. But lawmakers were advised to change passwords.

Morrison revealed on Monday that the computer networks used by the government parties — the Liberal Party and the Nationals — as well as the opposition Labor Party had also been affected. Australia’s security agencies were securing those systems and protecting users, he said. “Our cyber experts believe that a sophisticated state actor is responsible for this malicious activity,” Morrison told reporters. “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 of our electoral system.”

The Australian Cyber Security Center, the government’s main cyber security agency, has briefed federal and state election authorities, Morrison said.

New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, will hold elections on March 23. A federal election will be held in May.

Duncan Lewis, chief of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization said there was no evidence of the electoral machinery being compromised by the attack.