Chinese company Zhenhua Data tracked a secret package from the CSIRO's Deep Space Communications Centre outside Canberra all the way to NASA in California , leaked information shows.
Australia's fledgling space sector is proving to be a hot target for Chinese snooping, with Beijing tracking the movement of top-secret equipment from a tracking station outside Canberra to NASA in the United States.
"This database has got a vast amount of import-export data that is scraped up, presumably, or stolen or supplied somehow from import-export agents," Clive Hamilton from Charles Sturt University told the ABC. "There'd be hundreds of thousands of references to CSIRO available on the public record," Professor Hamilton said.
"We recognise that security is an ongoing concern for all companies developing innovative research and technology, and we are continuously evolving our processes and systems to mitigate these risks."The ubiquitous nature of the internet means most Australians are exposed online in some fashion, with details uploaded to websites from Facebook through to online shopping and banking.
"These companies are trying to gather and sell this information because there are people out there who are interested in buying it.
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Leaked database indicates Chinese intelligence has probed senior Australian politicians | Sky News AustraliaThe families of Australian politicians have been the target of open-source surveillance by a Chinese company that claims to have done work on behalf of Chinese intelligence, cyber security experts claim.\n\nIn an exclusive interview with Sky News Australia, cyber security analysts Robert Potter and Chris Balding have detailed the incredible scope of the espionage which they claim has targeted the most senior politicians in Australia.\n\nThe men claim a leaked database from a company called Shenzen Zhenhua Data indicates an intelligence assessment was carried out on the children or spouses of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, former Ambassador in Washington, Joe Hockey, current Ambassador, Arthur Sinodinos and Chair of the Intelligence Committee, Andrew Hastie.\n\nThe company alleged to have produced the database - Shenzen Zhenhua Data – has ties to Chinese intelligence.\n\nMr Balding – a professor at Fulbright University - said his international group of cyber-security experts had gone to great lengths to verify the database over the past 18 months, including having the data analysed by some intelligence agencies globally.\n\n“We’ve done extensive background research to basically vet the individuals, the data where this comes from, and so we feel very confident in saying that not only does the company claim to work with Chinese military, Chinese security and intelligence, but that we can actually track the individuals that have written this code, the individuals that own this company and who they are connected to, who sites on the board of directors and that, yes they do actually in fact either work for the PLA or the Ministry of State Security,” he said.\n\n“This information is being used by the Chinese state to try and target influence operations or intelligence operations around the world.”\n\nIn total, 2.4 million people and 650,000 organisations have been the target of the open-source surveillance activities, according to the leaked files, some of which have been
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Leaked database indicates Chinese intelligence has probed senior Australian politicians | Sky News AustraliaThe families of Australian politicians have been the target of open-source surveillance by a Chinese company that claims to have done work on behalf of Chinese intelligence, cyber security experts claim.\n\nIn an exclusive interview with Sky News Australia, cyber security analysts Robert Potter and Chris Balding have detailed the incredible scope of the espionage which they claim has targeted the most senior politicians in Australia.\n\nThe men claim a leaked database from a company called Shenzen Zhenhua Data indicates an intelligence assessment was carried out on the children or spouses of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, former Ambassador in Washington, Joe Hockey, current Ambassador, Arthur Sinodinos and Chair of the Intelligence Committee, Andrew Hastie.\n\nThe company alleged to have produced the database - Shenzen Zhenhua Data – has ties to Chinese intelligence.\n\nMr Balding – a professor at Fulbright University - said his international group of cyber-security experts had gone to great lengths to verify the database over the past 18 months, including having the data analysed by some intelligence agencies globally.\n\n“We’ve done extensive background research to basically vet the individuals, the data where this comes from, and so we feel very confident in saying that not only does the company claim to work with Chinese military, Chinese security and intelligence, but that we can actually track the individuals that have written this code, the individuals that own this company and who they are connected to, who sites on the board of directors and that, yes they do actually in fact either work for the PLA or the Ministry of State Security,” he said.\n\n“This information is being used by the Chinese state to try and target influence operations or intelligence operations around the world.”\n\nIn total, 2.4 million people and 650,000 organisations have been the target of the open-source surveillance activities, according to the leaked files, some of which have been
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Personal details of more than 35,000 Australians included in leaked Chinese databaseMore than 35,000 Australians are included in a massive database targeting influential global figures compiled by a Chinese military company.
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Leaked Chinese files reveal 2.4M Aussies targeted in ‘sinister’ surveillance program | Sky News AustraliaASPI Director of Defence and National Security Michael Shoebridge says many more Australians may be added to a list of people targeted by Chinese surveillance after a fragment of leaked reports were deciphered. \n\nLeaked files revealed 2.4 million Australians and 650,000 organisations were the targets of open-source surveillance by a Chinese company linked to Chinese intelligence. \n\n “Apparently [about] 2.5 million records were leaked and only about 10 per cent of them have been understood so far, and that a 2.5 million person database is probably a subset of bigger data holdings that Chinese companies have,” Mr Shoebridge told Sky News. \n\n“So we’re seeing this elephant through a straw but the bit of an elephant we can see says 35,000 Australians are being spied on at a scale and a depth that people just find hard to understand.' \n\nThe leaks indicated intelligence assessments were carried out on senior Australian politicians - including Scott Morrison, Joe Hockey and Andrew Hastie - and their families. \n\n'The fact that it’s about children as well, it’s like a longitudinal database of people that might be influential in the future and it also about being able to blackmail people because of things that their family, children and contacts have done,' Mr Shoebridge said. \n\n“It’s got a very sinister aspect to it. \n\n“Everybody leaves a digital snail trail behind them as we go about our daily life now … it’s about picking up all those trails and then looking at the pattern about individuals and relationships. \n\n“So it’s really seeing a woven rug about lots of fragments that have been put together.” \n\nImage: AP\n\n
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Optus not interested in Rugby Australia broadcast rightsTelco provider Optus did not express an interest in acquiring the broadcast rights to the rugby union.
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Chinese investment in Australia nosedives as distrust between two countries growsNew figures show Chinese investment in Australia is continuing to plummet amid growing tension between the two countries and companies from the mainland turning towards emerging markets.
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