Overview
- Director-General Mike Burgess named Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon as Chinese state-backed groups targeting Australian telecommunications and other critical systems.
- Burgess said probing of networks has occurred and, in some cases, access has been gained, declaring Australia has reached the threshold for high-impact sabotage.
- He cited Volt Typhoon’s compromises of American critical infrastructure, including networks supporting Guam, as pre-positioning that could let attackers shut down services.
- ASIO referenced an estimated A$12.5 billion cost to Australia from espionage in 2023–24 and warned cyber-enabled sabotage could cost about A$1.1 billion per incident.
- US and UK agencies have issued parallel alerts about Chinese activity, while Beijing denies responsibility for the hacking accusations.