Australian spy chief warns Chinese hackers are ‘probing’ critical networks for espionage and sabotage

Australia’s intelligence head Mike Burgess has warned that China-backed hackers are “probing” the country’s critical infrastructure, and in some cases have gained access. 

Burgess, who heads the country’s main intelligence agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, said that at least two China government-backed hacking groups are pre-positioning for sabotage and espionage.

The comments, made during a conference speech in Melbourne on Wednesday, echo similar remarks by the U.S. government, which has warned that the ongoing hacking campaigns may pose risks of economic and societal disruption.

According to Burgess, a hacker group known as Volt Typhoon is trying to break into critical infrastructure networks such as power, water, and transportation systems. Burgess warned that successful hacks could affect energy and water supplies, and cause widespread outages.

The U.S. has previously said that the Chinese hackers have spent years planting malware on critical infrastructure systems that are capable of causing disruptive cyberattacks when activated. U.S. officials said that Volt Typhoon’s goals are to hamper the U.S.’ response to China’s anticipated future invasion of Taiwan.

“I do not think we — and I mean all of us — truly appreciate how disruptive, how devastating, this could be,” said Burgess, speaking about the threat. He said that once the hackers have access, what happens next is a “matter of intent, not capability.” 

Burgess also warned that another China-backed hacking group dubbed Salt Typhoon, known for hacking into the networks of phone and internet companies to steal call records and other sensitive data, was also targeting the country’s telecoms infrastructure. 

Salt Typhoon has hacked more than 200 phone and internet companies, according to the FBI, including AT&T, Verizon and Lumen, along with several other cloud and data center providers. The hacks prompted the FBI to urge Americans to switch to end-to-end encrypted messaging apps to avoid having their calls and text messages accessed by the hackers.

The Canadian government also confirmed earlier this year that its telcos were breached as part of China-linked attacks.

China has long denied the hacking allegations.