SYDNEY , APR 28 -
A cyber attack
on the Australian parliamentary computer network in 2011 may have
given Chinese intelligence agencies access to lawmakers' private emails
for an entire year, the Australian Financial Review reported on Monday.
The newspaper, citing government and security sources, said new
information showed the attack had been more extensive than previously
thought and "effectively gave them control of" the entire system.
"It was like an open-cut mine. They had access to everything," a source told the newspaper.
Australian officials, like those in the United States and other Western
nations, have made cyber security a priority following a growing number
of attacks.
The parliamentary computer network is a non-classified internal system
used by federal lawmakers, their staff and advisers for private
communications and discussions of strategy.
While inside the system, hackers would have had access to emails,
contact databases and any other documents stored on the network, the
report said.
The access would have allowed China to gain a sophisticated
understanding of the political, professional and social links of the
Australian leadership and could have included sensitive discussions
between lawmakers and their staff.
Domestic media initially reported on the breach in 2011, although it
was believed at the time that Chinese agents had only accessed the
system for about a month.
Last year, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that
Chinese hackers had stolen the blueprints of a new multi-million-dollar
Australian spy headquarters, as well as confidential information from
the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott's government upheld a ban on China's Huawei
Technologies Co Ltd from bidding for work on the country's $38 billion
National Broadband Network (NBN) when it came to power last year, citing
cyber security concerns.
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