Australian Spy Chief Warns Chinese Hackers Trying to Breach Critical Networks

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Australia’s top intelligence chief has accused Chinese state-backed hackers of targeting the nation’s most critical systems, warning that their intent has shifted from “espionage to sabotage.”

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) Director-General Mike Burgess said Australia’s economy had lost $12.5 billion in 2023–24 due to espionage and foreign interference.

Chinese hacking groups Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon were singled out for attacks on telecommunications systems in both Australia and the United States.

“These groups are hackers working for Chinese government intelligence and their military,” Burgess told the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s cybersecurity forum in Melbourne on Nov. 12.

He revealed that Volt Typhoon had infiltrated U.S. military-linked infrastructure in Guam, giving China the capability “to turn off telecommunications and other critical infrastructure.”

“And yes,” he added, “we have seen Chinese hackers probing our critical infrastructure as well.”

“When they penetrate your networks, they aggressively map your systems,” he said.

He described the activity as “highly sophisticated,” designed to maintain hidden control that could enable sabotage at any moment.

“Once access is gained, what happens next is a matter of intent, not capability,” he said.

Burgess cautioned that Australians still underestimate the danger.

He outlined potential scenarios in which a state actor might weaponise access: crippling Australian companies as trade competitors, sowing panic during elections, or deterring Australia from supporting allies in conflict.

“Imagine if a nation-state took down all the networks, or turned off the power during a heatwave, or polluted our drinking water, or crippled our financial system,” he said.

“These are not hypotheticals—foreign governments have elite teams investigating these possibilities right now.”

Burgess said state-sponsored hackers were “pre-positioning for chaos.”

Their goal was to disrupt elections, interfere with key industries, and undermine alliances such as AUKUS.

A report by the Australian Institute of Criminology, produced with ASIO, estimated that cyber-enabled sabotage of critical infrastructure could cost the economy $1.1 billion per incident and $6 billion for a week-long disruption.

Burgess called those figures “extremely conservative.”

He urged business leaders to recognise their role in national defence.

“Your business may not be national security, but national security is your business,” he said.

“If the threat is foreseeable and the vulnerabilities are knowable, there’s no excuse for not taking all reasonable steps. You can’t PowerPoint your way out of this risk.”

Later, when questioned why Beijing wasn’t named, he replied, “How do you know I wasn’t talking about things China did in my remarks today?”

He added, “We all spy on each other, but we don’t conduct wholesale intellectual-property theft, we don’t interfere in political systems, and we don’t undertake high-harm activity.”

Burgess revealed that ASIO had recently disrupted a foreign spy network attempting to recruit Australians and steal intelligence on the economy, critical minerals, and AUKUS projects.

The agents, he said, had even drafted “a list of people and things they wanted spied on.”

He also accused the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of trying to pressure ASIO into toning down its statements.

In October, a Chinese fighter jet released flares near an Australian P-8A patrol aircraft over the South China Sea, prompting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to raise the incident directly with CCP officials as “a matter of concern.”

Australia has also joined the United States, Philippines, and New Zealand in joint maritime patrols asserting freedom of navigation in contested waters.

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