February 28, 2024 at 09:04PM
ASIO’s director general, Mike Burgess, warned of ongoing threats from adversaries trying to disrupt critical infrastructure through cyber attacks. He noted increased interest in sabotage from terrorists, foreign spies, and extremists, highlighting a nation-state’s sophisticated reconnaissance efforts. Burgess also revealed a foreign intelligence group’s subversion of an Australian politician and urged organizations to prioritize security.
Meeting Takeaways:
1. The annual threat assessment presented by the director general of security at Australia’s Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) highlights ongoing attempts by adversaries to target critical infrastructure through cyber sabotage.
2. The threat of cyber sabotage is a notable concern due to the interconnected and interdependent nature of critical infrastructure networks, which increases vulnerabilities and potential access points.
3. ASIO is aware of a nation-state conducting sophisticated reconnaissance to map and test vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure networks, specifically targeting water, transport, and energy networks.
4. An espionage group, referred to as “The A-Team,” is actively targeting Australia. The group trawls professional networking sites to approach individuals with access to privileged information, and has successfully recruited a former Australian politician.
5. The A-Team’s tactics involve creating false personas, reaching out to targets with false anglicized identities, and exploiting the presence of over 14,000 Australians mentioning their security clearances on social media profiles.
6. The group uses low-cost, low-risk espionage tactics, and has successfully cultivated individuals to provide sensitive national security information.
7. ASIO has successfully disrupted the A-Team’s activities and confronted both the targeted individuals and the A-Team directly.
8. The director general urges Australian organizations to prioritize security, and ASIO is set to publish a framework to help organizations build and maintain a robust security culture in response to these threats.