China's intelligence services have hacked the biggest providers of software services to Australia's companies, including SAP and IBM, in an extraordinary penetration that has compromised the data of hundreds of businesses.
The global companies, known as managed service providers (MSPs), are trusted by other firms to store, process, and protect commercial data, helping run every aspect of Australian businesses, from human resources to accounts management.
Officials in Canberra say the Chinese Ministry of State Security hackers had broken into their databases, enabling them to get what looks like legitimate access to their systems.
"These MSPs have thousands of clients," a national security official told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.
"This is potentially the biggest hack the West has ever seen. There is still a lot we don't know about the scale off the compromise because of the sophistication of the hack. But if you are a Western MSP you are likely to be caught up."
The news comes as US prosecutors overnight named and charged two hackers, Zhu Hua and Zhang Shilong, who they say are associated with the Chinese Ministry of State Security's group known as APT10. They are charged over the alleged industrial-scale theft of intellectual property and personal data from businesses and government agencies to secure competitive advantages for China.
FBI director Christopher Wray said China had committed brazen, persistent theft and needed to be held accountable.
"No country poses a broader, more severe, and long-term threat to our nation's economy and cyber infrastructure than China," Mr Wray said.
"China's goal, simply put, is to replace the US as the world's leading superpower – and they're using illegal methods to get there."
The indictments were immediately welcomed by the Australian government, which called on China to stop seeking a competitive advantage by stealing trade secrets and confidential business information from other nations.
National Cyber Security Adviser Alastair MacGibbon said: "This is audacious, it is huge, and it impacts potentially thousands of businesses globally. We know there are victims in Australia."
Mr MacGibbon said the theft had disadvantaged Australian businesses and their staff.
"And that essentially takes food from the people of Australia," Mr MacGibbon told the ABC. "It helps them compete in a way that we can't."
The decision by the federal government to effectively name and shame Beijing over the industrial espionage marks a major departure from the usual practice of not attributing hacking behaviour and reflects the intense frustration of Canberra at China's persistent efforts to steal commercial secrets.
"China is the real concern in the cyber area, and the West is now calling them out," the Australian official told The Age and the Herald.
"They will want to continue stealing. We need to make it harder for them."
Hundreds of Australian companies will most likely contact their managed service providers on Friday to check if their data and that of Australians have been breached.
The providers have been notified by intelligence services of the hack. According to the official, who cannot be named because of their position, some have resisted telling their own clients about the problem.
Among the dozens of hacking victims named at an overnight press conference in Washington D.C. were major banking, healthcare, telecommunications, mining and manufacturing companies. The US space agency NASA was also targeted as were the US Navy and Department of Energy.
The theft of intellectual property has formed a key part of US President Donald Trump's trade war with China.
US Deputy Attorney-General Rod Rosenstein said the Chinese government had violated a 2015 commitment to stop stealing trade secrets and other confidential information.
"It is unacceptable that we continue to uncover cybercrime committed by China against other nations," Mr Rosenstein said.
"We want China to cease illegal cyber activities and honour its commitment to the international community, but the evidence suggests that China may not intend to live up to its promises."
He added: "America and many allies know what China is doing. We know why they are doing it. And in some cases, we even know which individual people are doing it in association with the Chinese government."
The alleged hackers named in the US, Zhu Hua and Zhang Shilong, will not face charges unless they travel, or are extradited to, the US.
The outing of the cyber hacking campaign raises questions about the failure of certain IT service providers to safeguard their systems against cyber intrusion.
Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton joined the international outcry.
"Today, the Australian government joins other international partners in expressing serious concern about a global campaign of cyber-enabled commercial intellectual property theft by a group known as APT10, acting on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of State Security," they said in a statement.
"Australia calls on all countries – including China – to uphold commitments to refrain from cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, trade secrets and confidential business information with the intent of obtaining a competitive advantage."
The comments come after recent revelations in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald about how China's peak security agency has directed a surge in cyber attacks on Australian companies over the past year, breaching an agreement struck between Premier Li Keqiang and former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull not to steal each other's commercial secrets.
The investigation, with The Australian Financial Review and Nine, recently revealed that China's Ministry of State Security was responsible for what is known in cyber circles as "Operation Cloud Hopper", a wave of attacks detected by Australia and its partners in the Five Eyes intelligence sharing alliance – the US, Canada, Britain and New Zealand.
Geoffrey Berman, a US attorney from the Southern District of New York, said the hackers had obtained the personal information of 100,000 US Navy personnel.
He said the scale of the hacking was "shocking and outrageous".
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-...r-industrial-scale-theft-20181221-p50nl0.html
The global companies, known as managed service providers (MSPs), are trusted by other firms to store, process, and protect commercial data, helping run every aspect of Australian businesses, from human resources to accounts management.
Officials in Canberra say the Chinese Ministry of State Security hackers had broken into their databases, enabling them to get what looks like legitimate access to their systems.
"These MSPs have thousands of clients," a national security official told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.
"This is potentially the biggest hack the West has ever seen. There is still a lot we don't know about the scale off the compromise because of the sophistication of the hack. But if you are a Western MSP you are likely to be caught up."
The news comes as US prosecutors overnight named and charged two hackers, Zhu Hua and Zhang Shilong, who they say are associated with the Chinese Ministry of State Security's group known as APT10. They are charged over the alleged industrial-scale theft of intellectual property and personal data from businesses and government agencies to secure competitive advantages for China.
FBI director Christopher Wray said China had committed brazen, persistent theft and needed to be held accountable.
"No country poses a broader, more severe, and long-term threat to our nation's economy and cyber infrastructure than China," Mr Wray said.
"China's goal, simply put, is to replace the US as the world's leading superpower – and they're using illegal methods to get there."
The indictments were immediately welcomed by the Australian government, which called on China to stop seeking a competitive advantage by stealing trade secrets and confidential business information from other nations.
National Cyber Security Adviser Alastair MacGibbon said: "This is audacious, it is huge, and it impacts potentially thousands of businesses globally. We know there are victims in Australia."
Mr MacGibbon said the theft had disadvantaged Australian businesses and their staff.
"And that essentially takes food from the people of Australia," Mr MacGibbon told the ABC. "It helps them compete in a way that we can't."
The decision by the federal government to effectively name and shame Beijing over the industrial espionage marks a major departure from the usual practice of not attributing hacking behaviour and reflects the intense frustration of Canberra at China's persistent efforts to steal commercial secrets.
"China is the real concern in the cyber area, and the West is now calling them out," the Australian official told The Age and the Herald.
"They will want to continue stealing. We need to make it harder for them."
Hundreds of Australian companies will most likely contact their managed service providers on Friday to check if their data and that of Australians have been breached.
The providers have been notified by intelligence services of the hack. According to the official, who cannot be named because of their position, some have resisted telling their own clients about the problem.
Among the dozens of hacking victims named at an overnight press conference in Washington D.C. were major banking, healthcare, telecommunications, mining and manufacturing companies. The US space agency NASA was also targeted as were the US Navy and Department of Energy.
The theft of intellectual property has formed a key part of US President Donald Trump's trade war with China.
US Deputy Attorney-General Rod Rosenstein said the Chinese government had violated a 2015 commitment to stop stealing trade secrets and other confidential information.
"It is unacceptable that we continue to uncover cybercrime committed by China against other nations," Mr Rosenstein said.
"We want China to cease illegal cyber activities and honour its commitment to the international community, but the evidence suggests that China may not intend to live up to its promises."
He added: "America and many allies know what China is doing. We know why they are doing it. And in some cases, we even know which individual people are doing it in association with the Chinese government."
The alleged hackers named in the US, Zhu Hua and Zhang Shilong, will not face charges unless they travel, or are extradited to, the US.
The outing of the cyber hacking campaign raises questions about the failure of certain IT service providers to safeguard their systems against cyber intrusion.
Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton joined the international outcry.
"Today, the Australian government joins other international partners in expressing serious concern about a global campaign of cyber-enabled commercial intellectual property theft by a group known as APT10, acting on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of State Security," they said in a statement.
"Australia calls on all countries – including China – to uphold commitments to refrain from cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, trade secrets and confidential business information with the intent of obtaining a competitive advantage."
The comments come after recent revelations in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald about how China's peak security agency has directed a surge in cyber attacks on Australian companies over the past year, breaching an agreement struck between Premier Li Keqiang and former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull not to steal each other's commercial secrets.
The investigation, with The Australian Financial Review and Nine, recently revealed that China's Ministry of State Security was responsible for what is known in cyber circles as "Operation Cloud Hopper", a wave of attacks detected by Australia and its partners in the Five Eyes intelligence sharing alliance – the US, Canada, Britain and New Zealand.
Geoffrey Berman, a US attorney from the Southern District of New York, said the hackers had obtained the personal information of 100,000 US Navy personnel.
He said the scale of the hacking was "shocking and outrageous".
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-...r-industrial-scale-theft-20181221-p50nl0.html
