Ethical Hacking News
Australia's spy boss has warned that authoritarian regimes are poised to commit 'high-harm' activities such as turning off energy supplies and crippling financial systems via cyber-sabotage. The threat is expected to become more complex, challenging and dynamic in the next five years, according to ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess.
Authoritarian regimes are increasing their willingness to disrupt or destroy critical infrastructure using advanced cyber-attacks. The recent telecoms outages in Australia have been cited as an example of this growing threat, with devastating consequences if left unchecked. Foreign governments, including those from China, are investing in elite teams to investigate and execute cyber-sabotage attacks. Australia's security environment is becoming more complex, diverse, and degraded due to the increasing threats at scale and intersection of threats. Leaders should develop an understanding of their organization's critical assets and take reasonable steps to address known vulnerabilities.
In a stark warning, Mike Burgess, Director-General of Security at Australia's Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), has highlighted the growing threat of cyber-sabotage from authoritarian regimes. In a speech delivered today, Burgess emphasized that these nations are increasingly willing to disrupt or destroy critical infrastructure using advanced cyber-attacks.
The recent telecoms outages in Australia have been cited as an example of this growing threat. One such outage is thought to have contributed to three deaths, with Burgess stating that the implications of such attacks would be devastating if a nation-state were to take down all networks or turn off power during a heatwave. "Imagine the implications if a nation state took down all the networks?" he said. "Or turned off the power during a heatwave? Or polluted our drinking water? Or crippled our financial system?"
Burgess also highlighted that foreign governments have elite teams investigating these possibilities right now, and some of these governments have previously had an intent to commit espionage and foreign interference - to steal and meddle. He warned that some are now more likely to pull the trigger on the higher-harm activities.
The intelligence boss stated that ASIO therefore expects a complex, challenging and changing security environment will become more dynamic, more diverse, and more degraded. "Dynamic, because Australia has never faced so many threats… at scale… at once," he said. "Diverse, because threats are intersecting and boundaries are blurring. Foreign spies are increasingly using criminal cut-outs to do their dirty work."
Burgess also mentioned the Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon hacking groups, which are believed to be hackers working for Chinese Government intelligence and their military. He stated that these groups have been probing Australia's telecommunication networks too.
In contrast, Voltyphoon's intent was disruptive, with the group compromising American critical infrastructure networks to pre-position for potential sabotage. The penetrations gave China the ability to turn off telecommunications and other critical infrastructure.
Burgess also suggested a combination of complacency and poor governance is to blame for the security incidents involving known problems with known fixes. He advised boards and leadership teams to be curious and discerning about the information provided to them, as "you can't PowerPoint your way out of this risk."
He recommended leaders develop an understanding of the data, systems, services and people that are particularly important to an organization and its customers, plus their at-risk data, systems, services and people. "Where are things stored? Who has access? How well are they protected?" he asked.
"Once you understand all that, manage the risk in a coherent and connected way," Burgess said. "Look across your whole enterprise, recognising that good security is a connected web, not silos of excellence with chasms in between."
Burgess also emphasized that complexity is not an excuse for not taking reasonable steps to address the risks. "I cannot be clearer, if the risks are foreseeable and the vulnerabilities are knowable, there is no excuse for not taking all reasonable steps," he said.
The warning comes as Australia's spy boss highlighted the growing threat of cyber-sabotage from authoritarian regimes. The recent telecoms outages in Australia have been cited as an example of this growing threat, with Burgess emphasizing that these nations are increasingly willing to disrupt or destroy critical infrastructure using advanced cyber-attacks.
Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/Australias-Spy-Boss-Warns-of-Growing-Cyber-Sabotage-Threat-from-Authoritarian-Regimes-ehn.shtml
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2025/11/12/asio_cyber_sabotage_warnings/
Published: Tue Nov 11 19:26:51 2025 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
