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With only a few weeks to go before the elections, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced that the country’s three largest political parties have been hacked. This is a hack from a party that probably works on behalf of a government, although it is not certain which country and with which motives.

Alastair MacGibbon, the head of the Australian Cyber Security Centre, has stated that it is also unclear what data may have been captured. We’re still gathering all the evidence, MacGibbon says. However, it is clear that the networks of the country’s liberal, national and workers’ party have been hacked.

No influence

In his statement, Prime Minister Morrison emphasises that the hackers have been detected and that there are no problems. The political system and our democracy remain strong, resilient and protected, says Morrison. And let us be clear about one thing: there is no evidence of influencing the elections. We have taken a number of measures to ensure the integrity of our electoral system.

The identity of the hackers is unknown. This is also because the hackers have used tools that the security experts within the Australian government do not know. However, the ACSC states that the research is still ongoing and that it currently provides technical support, aimed at securing the networks and protecting users.

China suspected

Although it is not known exactly which country or who is behind the hack, Australian media suspect China. The country is said to be very active, together with Russia, in hacking into other nations and to have regularly attempted to influence elections. Of course, the Chinese government strongly denies any involvement.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs considers the allegations to be irresponsible and claims that there is no evidence to support them. Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang states that media speculation is only bad for and undermines the relationship between Australia and China. According to Shuang, discussions about hacks and similar attacks should be conducted with mutual respect and openness.

This news article was automatically translated from Dutch to give Techzine.eu a head start. All news articles after September 1, 2019 are written in native English and NOT translated. All our background stories are written in native English as well. For more information read our launch article.