Plans for Australia spy HQ hacked by Chinese
CANBERRA: Australian officials yesterday refused to confirm or deny whether Chinese hackers had stolen the blueprints of a new spy agency headquarters as a news report claims. A tiny party essential to the ruling coalition’s government demanded an inquiry into how much damage may have been done.
Australian Broadcasting Corp. television reported on Monday night that the plans for the 630 million Australian dollar ($ 608 million) Australian Security Intelligence Organization building had been stolen through a cyberattack on a building contractor. Blueprints that included details such as communications cabling, server locations and security systems had been traced to a Chinese server, the network reported.
Des Ball, an Australian National University cybersecurity expert, said China could use the blueprints to bug the building, which is nearing completion in Canberra, the capital, after lengthy construction delays.
Ball told the ABC that given the breach, ASIO would either have to operate with “utmost sensitivity” within its own building or simply “rip the whole insides out and ... start again.” Attorney General Mark Dreyfus, the minister in charge of the spy agency, yesterday refused to confirm or deny the report, citing a longstanding government policy of declining to comment on security matters.
He later said the lakeside glass and concrete structure did not need to be redesigned, and that ASIO will move in this year.
“This building is a very secure, state-of-the-art facility,” said Dreyfus, adding that the ABC report contained “unsubstantiated allegations.” “I’m not going to comment on operational matters involving the Australian Security Intelligence Organization or any security mat- ters,” he said. Questioned about the alleged security breach in Parliament, Prime Minister Julia Gillard described the ABC report as “inaccurate” but refused to go into detail.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China opposed hacking in any form and questioned what evidence the ABC report relied on.