Mike Burgess, who leads the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, said at the Annual Hawke Lecture at the University of South Australia that he was putting a dollar figure on the economic cost of espionage for the first time to stress the “real, present and costly danger” facing Australia. Alongside China, Russia and Iran — which the ASIO chief had previously named — “many other countries are also targeting anyone and anything that could give them a strategic or tactical advantage, including sensitive but unclassified information,” he said, adding that Australians would be “shocked” by the number of other countries also engaged in espionage. Burgess shared case studies in which foreign nationals had tricked or compromised Australians into accessing sensitive locations and computer networks and used the pilfered information they then stole to pursue their country’s own strategic advantage. The ASIO chief also warned that foreign spies were taking a “very unhealthy interest” in the capabilities of the AUKUS pact, noting how defence employees travelling overseas have been subjected to cover room searchers and been approached at conferences by disguised spies, and given gifts containing surveillance devices. Foreign intelligence services were obtaining this advantage both by “convincing, coercing or seducing insiders to impart sensitive information — and through technology, most commonly by hacking,” said Burgess, adding that was often a combination of both. Foreign states stealing secret information from Australia are costing the country about $8 billion a year according to the head of the country’s domestic security service. The spies targeting Australian secrets have been “masquerading as diplomats, journalists, academics, businesspeople and other professionals to conduct sophisticated, multi-year campaigns” as well as opportunistically snatching material when it’s available. The study estimates that foreign cyber spies alone stole nearly $2 billion AUD worth of trade secrets and intellectual property from Australian companies and businesses between 2023 and 2024. “The report includes a case study where spies hacked into the computer network of a major Australian exporter, making off with commercially sensitive information. The theft gave the foreign country a significant advantage in subsequent contract negotiations, costing Australia hundreds of millions of dollars,” Burgess said. Alongside the economic cost, Burgess warned “many of the most serious, significant and cascading costs of espionage are not included in the $12.5 billion [AUD] figure. “Thousands of Australian students, academics, politicians, businesspeople, researchers, law enforcement officials and public servants at all levels of government have been targeted for espionage in this way. The $8 billion figure ($12.5 billion AUD) was calculated by ASIO in partnership with the Australian Institute of Criminology for a special report.
This Cyber News was published on therecord.media. Publication date: Thu, 31 Jul 2025 14:00:17 +0000