Chinese state sponsored hackers behind cyber attack on parliament, Australia intelligence agency concluded

Australian intelligence believes Chinese state-sponsored hackers were behind cyber attack on parliament - but government decided to cover it up

Hackers backed by China's Ministry of State Security were behind a cyber attack on Australia's national parliament earlier this year, the country's cyber intelligence agency believes - but the government covered it up.

Five people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) concluded that Chinese hackers were also responsible for attacks on three political parties in the country before the general election in May.

However, the findings were not publically disclosed to avoid harming trade relations with China.

According to Reuters, the ASD probe discovered that the attackers used the same techniques and code that had been used earlier by Chinese hacking groups. The perpetrators specifically tried to target major political parties in Australia, and used sophisticated techniques to hide their true identities.

The Australian government shared the finding with two allies, the US and the UK. A small team of British cyber experts was also sent to Australia to assist the investigators in tracking the hackers.

In February, Australian government revealed that the network of the national parliament was breached in an attack that appeared to be highly sophisticated and likely carried out by a foreign government. Initial investigation revealed no evidence of any attempt to disturb or delay the Australian elections.

It was determined that the hackers were also able to infiltrate the networks of the Liberal Party, the opposition Labor Party and the National Party.

Following the cyber attack, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives told the lawmakers and staff to immediately change their account passwords.

China is currently Australia's largest trading partner, purchasing more than one-third of Australia's total exports - largely commodities, such as coal and iron ore. More than a million students and tourists from China visit Australia each year, too.

However, Australia's relations with Beijing have deteriorated in recent years. In 2017, Australia's government accused the Asian superpower of interfering in its domestic affairs. And last year, Australia also barred Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei from supplying equipment to its 5G network.

In recent months, both countries have tried to mend their ties, but Australia still remains watchful of China.

In a statement to Reuters, China's Foreign Ministry rejected reports of China's involvement in any sort of hacking attacks. The Ministry said that the internet was full of such theories, which are difficult to prove.

"When investigating and determining the nature of online incidents, there must be full proof of the facts, otherwise it's just creating rumours and smearing others, pinning labels on people indiscriminately," the Ministry argued.

"We would like to stress that China is also a victim of internet attacks," it added.