Is China behind massive Australian cyber-attack?

[webfact]

Is China behind massive Australian cyber-attack?
BY LARRY BANKS

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology suffered a massive cyber-attack that may have leaked national security information. The attack is being blamed on China, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

One of the country’s main supercomputers is based at the Bureau of Meteorology, and the recent attack may have meant those responsible could access the Department of Defence via a linked network.

ABC blamed the breach on China, which has been accused of hacking sensitive government computer systems in the past. “It’s China”, the ABC quoted one source.

The Bureau of Meteorology released a statement that it would not comment on security issues, but that it’s working with security agencies, in addition to the fact that it’s computers were operating normally.

Full story: http://www.streetwisejournal.com/china-australia-cyber-attack/


-- StreetWiseJournal 2015-12-02

[Publicus]

Western governments or media disclose most instances of hacks.

However, neither Moscow nor Beijing make a public announcement or statement when they get hacked by NSA or others.

Washington announced in April Moscow had briefly hacked the White House scheduler. Yet while Washington and the Kremlin never tell us when Putin retires to bed, each knows, it's just that neither says.

[BuaBS]

Or Indonesia getting back at the spying Aussies.

Good on them . The Australian nsa is just as bad as the brits , US , NZ , ....

[spidermike007]

I have it on good authority that China devotes tens of billions of dollars a year to committing cyber crime, cyber hacking, and various other cyber related spy activities. Their spy apparatus is enormous, worldwide, far reaching, and probably second only to the US. So, the probability that is was China is huge. If someone did it, it is probably China.

[rondii]

Probably USA did it and trying to put blame on Chinese

[Aussieroaming]

Damn it...now the Chinese know what our secret weapon is ...Vegemite

[farangmick]

Damn it...now the Chinese know what our secret weapon is ...Vegemite

Ah yes, the bland version of Marmite.

[farangmick]

Damn it...now the Chinese know what our secret weapon is ...Vegemite

Ah yes, the bland version of Marmite.

But your pies are ace. Don't want to start an online spat.

[Lopchan]

Only the sycophant's of Uncle Sam would jump to the conclusion that it was China. Consider this: two of Oz's nearest neighbour's are predominantly Muslim and have a combined population of around 300 million. There has been a constant state of ill feeling between those states and Oz for a long time. It has maintained a status quo, but it occasionally flares up. (Usually when Aussies are having their necks stretched or when dealing with refugees and very occasionally due to the respective navies entering sovereign waters).

While I'm no expert on international relations, I think it would be more prudent to consider "friends" closer to home than an "enemy" who only enjoys the status of "enemy" simply because the world PO-lice tell us it is so.

[Seastallion]

Damn it...now the Chinese know what our secret weapon is ...Vegemite

Ah yes, the bland version of Marmite.

But your pies are ace. Don't want to start an online spat.

Just as jolly well

[Lopchan]

Damn it...now the Chinese know what our secret weapon is ...Vegemite

Ah yes, the bland version of Marmite.

Ah yes Marmite the ultra-conservative and ultra-tasteless centrepiece of British condiments. Invented by a German, given a French name and sold in bottles shaped like its French namesake. Proud to be a happy little vegemite

[farangmick]

Damn it...now the Chinese know what our secret weapon is ...Vegemite

Ah yes, the bland version of Marmite.

Ah yes Marmite the ultra-conservative and ultra-tasteless centrepiece of British condiments. Invented by a German, given a French name and sold in bottles shaped like its French namesake. Proud to be a happy little vegemite

Just looked both up on Wiki. Never knew it was a German invention. Never knew Vegemite was invented because Australia was running out of Marmite after WW1. Mai bpen rai, my family hate both.

[Lopchan]

"my family hate both" okay I can understand hating marmite, but vegemite?!!! Go and wash your mouth out (with vegemite) you heathen!

[Aussieroaming]

Damn it...now the Chinese know what our secret weapon is ...Vegemite

Ah yes, the bland version of Marmite.

Ah yes Marmite the ultra-conservative and ultra-tasteless centrepiece of British condiments. Invented by a German, given a French name and sold in bottles shaped like its French namesake. Proud to be a happy little vegemite

Just looked both up on Wiki. Never knew it was a German invention. Never knew Vegemite was invented because Australia was running out of Marmite after WW1. Mai bpen rai, my family hate both.

The Chinese didn't know any of this either, they do now.

[Publicus]

I have it on good authority that China devotes tens of billions of dollars a year to committing cyber crime, cyber hacking, and various other cyber related spy activities. Their spy apparatus is enormous, worldwide, far reaching, and probably second only to the US. So, the probability that is was China is huge. If someone did it, it is probably China.

Yes, they are so desperate to circumvent the Great Firewall of China in order to watch "Neighbours".

What the hell has Australia got that the Chinese can't just buy? If not already bought in some back room deal.

I once taught at a computer company in Nanjing. It was owned and operated completely by an American company with 100% Chinese programmers.

CCP Dictators in Beijing want to know how the debate is going in Oz about what to do in the South China Sea.

If anything.

After all, it is the South CHINA Sea. And Oz is a neighbor.

Psssst, your commodities boom with China is over. Ended. Now it's time to get a real economy.

[spidermike007]

I have it on good authority that China devotes tens of billions of dollars a year to committing cyber crime, cyber hacking, and various other cyber related spy activities. Their spy apparatus is enormous, worldwide, far reaching, and probably second only to the US. So, the probability that is was China is huge. If someone did it, it is probably China.

Yes, they are so desperate to circumvent the Great Firewall of China in order to watch "Neighbours".

What the hell has Australia got that the Chinese can't just buy? If not already bought in some back room deal.

I once taught at a computer company in Nanjing. It was owned and operated completely by an American company with 100% Chinese programmers.

CCP Dictators in Beijing want to know how the debate is going in Oz about what to do in the South China Sea.

If anything.

After all, it is the South CHINA Sea. And Oz is a neighbor.

Psssst, your commodities boom with China is over. Ended. Now it's time to get a real economy.

It does appear the South China Sea is the first area China will employ, in their long term attempt at world domination. Chinese waters, 1,000 miles off their coast? Makes one wonder what their next moves might be. No doubt, their intentions are positively and completely heinous.

[spidermike007]

Only the sycophant's of Uncle Sam would jump to the conclusion that it was China. Consider this: two of Oz's nearest neighbour's are predominantly Muslim and have a combined population of around 300 million. There has been a constant state of ill feeling between those states and Oz for a long time. It has maintained a status quo, but it occasionally flares up. (Usually when Aussies are having their necks stretched or when dealing with refugees and very occasionally due to the respective navies entering sovereign waters).

While I'm no expert on international relations, I think it would be more prudent to consider "friends" closer to home than an "enemy" who only enjoys the status of "enemy" simply because the world PO-lice tell us it is so.

It does sound like you know very little about China, it's cyber budget and it's massive spy apparatus. China thanks you for your loyalty and patronage. Be very wary of the Chinese govt. They are up to no good. They are hellbent on expansion. This is only the beginning. The South China Sea incidents are just the start of a worldwide campaign that may last decades.

[Publicus]

Only the sycophant's of Uncle Sam would jump to the conclusion that it was China. Consider this: two of Oz's nearest neighbour's are predominantly Muslim and have a combined population of around 300 million. There has been a constant state of ill feeling between those states and Oz for a long time. It has maintained a status quo, but it occasionally flares up. (Usually when Aussies are having their necks stretched or when dealing with refugees and very occasionally due to the respective navies entering sovereign waters).

While I'm no expert on international relations, I think it would be more prudent to consider "friends" closer to home than an "enemy" who only enjoys the status of "enemy" simply because the world PO-lice tell us it is so.

If you don't like your leaders now wait till the CCP Dictators in Beijing pick 'em for you. No question some people would like that.

Check that out with Hong Kong which is a neighbor. Ask around Taiwan about it cause they're another neighbor.

Oz has a lot of neighbors who are building up their navies and air forces in response to the CCP military buildup and regional aggressions. Japan. South Korea. Indonesia. Philippines. Vietnam. Malaysia. Brunei. India.

CCP Dictators like, encourage and create dictators. Just look up and around where you are. It does attract people who like it.

[american12bthai]

a few weeks ago china was using the malware BAIDU... to ..acquire large amounts of traffic/ data.... from thailand.

nobody heard about that.

[Publicus]

a few weeks ago china was using the malware BAIDU... to ..acquire large amounts of traffic/ data.... from thailand.

nobody heard about that.

Indeed, Baidu which is a factory installed search engine in the CCP China is in fact spyware/malware. It's malicious and pervasive throughout any computer and networks it's connected to. Foreigners don't realise it till it's too late. Chinese keep it because they don't know it is a virus or they don't care or can't easily access an alternative antivirus system.

Same for the related Quihoo 360 Beijing Technology Inc antivirus/malware defender which is also factory installed, free and used by almost everyone in the CCP China. It is in fact malicious and controlling spyware/malware through and through. This system is at the core of the Great Firewall of China.

QQ by Tencent Technologies in the CCP China is the main closed social internet messaging and social networking system used inside the CCP China itself. It operates in Thailand also but only in Thailand and only in Thai. There is a QQ International in English which in fact means a controlled QQ in English instead of closed QQ in Chinese.

QQ Tencent wherever it is located is closed and incestuous. The long term plan is to interconnect all the vertical qq closed systems that can over time be installed country by country. The goal is to eventually create a global horizontal QQ social network controlled by CCP.

These CCP people and their pals are duplicitous and vile.

http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/qq.com

Edited December 3, 2015 by Publicus

[Linky]

"my family hate both" okay I can understand hating marmite, but vegemite?!!! Go and wash your mouth out (with vegemite) you heathen!

I prefer Promite but cant find it now. Do miss the pies.

[marquis22]

Damn it...now the Chinese know what our secret weapon is ...Vegemite

Ah yes, the bland version of Marmite.

Ah yes Marmite the ultra-conservative and ultra-tasteless centrepiece of British condiments. Invented by a German, given a French name and sold in bottles shaped like its French namesake. Proud to be a happy little vegemite

Just looked both up on Wiki. Never knew it was a German invention. Never knew Vegemite was invented because Australia was running out of Marmite after WW1. Mai bpen rai, my family hate both.

All dinky di Aussies were weaned off milk using vegemite smeared on crusts mmmmmmmmm still need weekly dose of it on fresh bread and butter.

[Publicus]

Probably USA did it and trying to put blame on Chinese

Aussie intelligence would know what happened. Australian intelligence does in fact know what occurred. If there is such a thing as too much information, then there might be a thing called too much imagination.

From the OP: ABC blamed the breach on China, which has been accused of hacking sensitive government computer systems in the past. “It’s China”, the ABC quoted one source.

US and Australia together co-operate the Pine Gap intelligence station in remote central Australia at Alice Springs since 1970. Five governments of the world share ALL their intelligence information: USA, Canada, UK, Australia, NZ. Some like the term Anglosphere others do not.

Regardless.....

Pine Gap is perhaps the most important United States intelligence facility outside that country, playing a vital role in the collection of a very wide range of signals intelligence, providing early warning ballistic missile launches, targetting of nuclear weapons, providing battlefield intelligence data for United States armed forces operating in Afghanistan and elsewhere (including in Iraq), critically supporting United States and Japanese missile defence, supporting arms control verification, and contributing targetting data to United States drone attacks.There are now 38 satellite dishes/radomes at Pine Gap.

http://nautilus.org/publications/books/australian-forces-abroad/defence-facilities/pine-gap/pine-gap-intro/

(And here's hoping the unique Aussie humor (of deflection) bantered about there is better than it might be elsewhere.)

[spidermike007]

Only the sycophant's of Uncle Sam would jump to the conclusion that it was China. Consider this: two of Oz's nearest neighbour's are predominantly Muslim and have a combined population of around 300 million. There has been a constant state of ill feeling between those states and Oz for a long time. It has maintained a status quo, but it occasionally flares up. (Usually when Aussies are having their necks stretched or when dealing with refugees and very occasionally due to the respective navies entering sovereign waters).

While I'm no expert on international relations, I think it would be more prudent to consider "friends" closer to home than an "enemy" who only enjoys the status of "enemy" simply because the world PO-lice tell us it is so.

If you don't like your leaders now wait till the CCP Dictators in Beijing pick 'em for you. No question some people would like that.

Check that out with Hong Kong which is a neighbor. Ask around Taiwan about it cause they're another neighbor.

Oz has a lot of neighbors who are building up their navies and air forces in response to the CCP military buildup and regional aggressions. Japan. South Korea. Indonesia. Philippines. Vietnam. Malaysia. Brunei. India.

CCP Dictators like, encourage and create dictators. Just look up and around where you are. It does attract people who like it.

Absolutely correct. You can bet, with virtually anything the Chinese government is involved in, they are up to no good. Their intention are positively heinous, today, tomorrow, and always. Count on it. Plan with that in mind. They are no friend to anyone. They plan long term, and absolute and complete world domination is their plan. It might be a 20, 30, or 50 year plan. But, it is the plan of the CCP to establish absolute control. You have to look at it from a historical perspective. That is how they see it. They are simply trying to re-establish the place they had in the world from the 5th to about the 15th century. All countries that are wise, and are watching what it going on, are aware of their intentions. Never trust the CCP. Why would you? What have they ever done for the world to gain that trust, and to deny that suspicion?

[geriatrickid]

Same M.O. as the cyber attacks against Canada that were traced back to China.