It was reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that Chinese hackers had located and stolen the blueprints for the $630 million spy agency headquarters that is nearing completion in Canberra.
Although the broadcasting company said that the blueprints stolen show the areas where servers, communications cables and security systems are located, the Australian government says that the reports are inaccurate and that no theft had occured.
The Australians are not commenting on the report and say the information is unsubstantiated. The Australian Attorney General also announced that his office nor the office of the Director General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization comment on specific intelligence matters.
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Independent senator Nick Xenophon says that the government is hiding behind a cloak of secrecy to cover up a very embarrassing situation.
China is the leading trading partner with Australia. Australia’s foreign minister, Bob Carr said “I won’t comment on matters of intelligence and security for the obvious reason: we don’t want to share with the world and potential aggressors what we know about what they might be doing, and how they might be doing it.” Beyond that, he said that his department had no comment on issues of national security.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the report was groundless and says there is no evidence connecting China with the alleged attack.
The Green Party is asking for a full government inquery into the alleged cyber-attack calling it a “security blunder of epic proportions.” Party leader Christine Milne stated, “The government is now going to have to come out and explain to people how there won’t be a long-term security impact and what measures they are going to take to overcome whatever the damage is.”
It was also reported in the U.S. on Monday that Chinese hackers had gained access to weapons information for the Patriot Missile system,the Aegis ballistic missile defense systems,the F-18 fighter, V-22 Osprey, Blackhawk helicopter and the F-35 Fighter. That report was made for the Defense Department by the Defense Science Board.
China also dismissed that report as groundless.