Australia's Major Political Parties Targeted by 'Sophisticated State Actor', Prime Minister Says

Australia's major political parties have been targeted by a 'sophisticated state actor', according to Scott Morrison (Prime Minister of Australia), as part of a breach of the Parliament House computer network. From a report: The head of the Australian Cyber Security Centre, Alastair MacGibbon, says agencies were unsure what material had been taken in the incident because the rapid remediation efforts had removed some of the forensic evidence. The prime minister confirmed the state-sponsored intrusion in a statement to parliament on Monday, but said there was no evidence of electoral interference and measures had been put in place to 'ensure the integrity of our electoral system.'

Morrison said he had instructed the Australian Cyber Security Centre 'to be ready to provide any political party or electoral body in Australia with immediate support, including making their technical experts available.' He said the federal and state electoral commissions and cybersecurity agencies in the states had been briefed and the cybersecurity centre in Canberra had also worked with global anti-virus companies 'so the world can detect this malicious activity.'

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