Overview
- Director‑General Mike Burgess named Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon as hackers working for Chinese government intelligence and the military.
- ASIO said the groups probed Australian telecommunications and other critical networks and, in some cases, gained access as part of pre‑positioning for potential sabotage.
- Burgess warned Australia has reached the threshold for high‑impact sabotage, citing targets across water, transport, energy and communications.
- He referenced prior U.S. and Microsoft findings about Volt Typhoon’s stealthy footholds and Salt Typhoon’s telecom espionage as corroborating context.
- ASIO urged companies to strengthen cyber governance, noting espionage cost A$12.5 billion in 2023–24 and estimating about A$1.1 billion per cyber‑sabotage incident.