Australian government and institutions are being targeted by an ongoing sophisticated state-based cyber hack, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says.
Mr Morrison said the cyber attacks were widespread, covering “all levels of government” as well as essential service providers and businesses.
He did not identify a specific state actor, adding that no major data breaches had been made.
The activity has been increasing in frequency over many months, he said.
He said the government’s cyber experts knew it was a state cyber actor “because of the scale and nature of the targeting and the trade craft used.”
“There are not a large number of state-based actors that can engage in this type of activity,” he added.
“We raised this issue today not to raise concerns in the public’s mind, but to raise awareness in the public’s mind.”
Last February, Australia’s main political parties and parliament were hit by a “malicious intrusion” on their computer networks carried out by a “sophisticated state actor”.