Australia's Major Political Parties Targeted by 'Sophisticated State Actor', Prime Minister Says (theguardian.com) 61
Australia's major political parties have been targeted by a "sophisticated state actor", according to Scott Morrison (Prime Minister of Australia), as part of a breach of the Parliament House computer network. From a report: The head of the Australian Cyber Security Centre, Alastair MacGibbon, says agencies were unsure what material had been taken in the incident because the rapid remediation efforts had removed some of the forensic evidence. The prime minister confirmed the state-sponsored intrusion in a statement to parliament on Monday, but said there was no evidence of electoral interference and measures had been put in place to "ensure the integrity of our electoral system."
Morrison said he had 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." He said the federal and state electoral commissions and cybersecurity agencies in the states had been briefed and the cybersecurity centre in Canberra had also worked with global anti-virus companies "so the world can detect this malicious activity."
Morrison said he had 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." He said the federal and state electoral commissions and cybersecurity agencies in the states had been briefed and the cybersecurity centre in Canberra had also worked with global anti-virus companies "so the world can detect this malicious activity."
So who's the state actor? (Score:3)
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My vote: didn't even happen.
It's election year and that government is clutching at straws. Prime minister no one wanted.
No, all parties were attacked and there was a bipartisan response. No political gain that I can see.
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I think a lot of times when a government or corporation gets hacked, they knee-jerkingly blame it on a "state-actor" to hide the fact that their network security was pathetically weak. It seems to me that a sophisticated group would not be so careless as to leave obvious evidence of their intrusion since that would only alert and motivate the target to tighten their defenses and make it more difficult to get in the next time.
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My vote: New Zealand
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The prime minister would count as a "state actor", but I'm not so sure about the "sophisticated" part.
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Dupe (Score:2)
I only wish Slashdot's dupe detection mechanism was as sophisticated as a foreign state actor.
Unless the "news" here is the word could has been replaced by the word was. https://it.slashdot.org/story/... [slashdot.org]
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Egads, I've never seen AI flatulence before. This is a first!
Re: air/water polymorph continues? (Score:1)
John McAfee is that you again?
"sophisticated state actor" (Score:4, Interesting)
Why do we keep inventing new words? Acts of foreign government are either "espionage" or "sabotage".
And it has been the extension of diplomacy for a long long time. Like in "war is extension of diplomacy".
Espionage is normal. Sabotage is less normal and more hostile, but it's much less than an act of war....
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Why do we keep inventing new words?
We don't. None of these words are new and none of them seem to mean what you think they do. Espionage though typically used to describe an act by governments is not exclusively used so.
Embrace the english language. "Sophisticated" tells us about the attack quality, "state actor" tells us about the attacker, "espionage" or "sabotage" tells us about the purpose.
You want to know why the words espionage and sabotage aren't being used? Well that's because not every government wants to resort to unsubstantiated h
Not a surprise (Score:2, Funny)
Russia seems to have contributed to the misinformation over Brexit which, regardless of what happens next, certainly seems destined to destabilise the UK and possibly the EU for years to come. They may also have been a decisive factor in Trump's election as US president, though their contribution is difficult to separate from other factors. It is not surprising that state actors see similar attempts as an interesting way of trying to achieve their foreign policy goals.
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Well deserved (Score:5, Interesting)
This is the same government that recently banned secure encryption in Australia (by mandating backdoors in all secure systems). The fact that said government just got hacked is simply delicious irony.
Help! Truth!! We're melting!!! (Score:4, Funny)
'Australia's major political parties have been targeted by a "sophisticated state actor"...'
OMG it's Putin! He's weaponized truth!!
No, he's weaponized information (Score:2)
Putin is not a friend of the free press. If he releases information it's solely to benefit himself at the expense of his enemies. This means the information he has released is likely to be incomplete. It will be missing anything that shows his administration in a negative light.
Go watch John Oliver's latest Brexit Video [youtube.com]. It's terrifying how many people were just casually manipulated by the propaganda and are now realizing how screwed they'll be. The guy selling flowers who'
A thought... (Score:2)
Which is the most "sophisticated state actor" you can think of, when it comes to electronic espionage and malware?
Re:A thought... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:A thought... (Score:5, Funny)
Which is the most "sophisticated state actor" you can think of?
Why, Ronald Reagan, of course.
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Thank you. This kind of comment is why I still come to Slashdot.
I don't fucking believe it worked (Score:1)
The plan to break AUS's shit and have them delete forensic evidence fucking worked.
I can't believe some half-assed plan hatched on fucking 4chan by a bunch of high schoolers from various places around the world actually worked this goddamned well.
GG NO RE fucking AUS. You got owned by a literal group of teenagers. Your 'best' and 'brightest' IT staff got owned by people that have yet to graduate from their mandated basic education.
Don't trust Australia to keep your shit safe, folks. This is the result of th
'cause they run it, see? (Score:2)
Australia's Major Political Parties Targeted by 'Sophisticated State Actor'
Well, that rules out the Australian government itself.
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Once again, the finger is being pointed at China, despite the hack being untraceable and the perpetrator(s) unknown. My own suspicion is that it's another US hack, as they have by far the worst track record for this, with literally thousands of their hacks and bugs detected each year. And that's just in Australia, who is supposed to be an ally.
The US doesn't have to hack us, we're part of the Five Eyes group and we tell them everything they want to know.
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It's generally agreed that whilst the Five Eyes share a vast amount of information, they also quietly spy on each other as well - with a bit of a gentleman's agreement not to talk about it. At least everyone then knows it's going on.
Sophisticated (Score:2)
Sophisticated, or sophisticated compared to Australia?
Upcoming election (Score:2)
Asistance Access Bill 2018 (Score:2)
Looks like they are looking for an excuse to use their new powers passed as the last parliamentary business for 2018.