Australian defence minister off-line in China to avoid cyber spying - media

Australian defence minister off-line in China to avoid cyber spying - media

in.reuters.com

Smith will hold an inaugural defence ministers' dialogue with his Chinese counterpart Liang Guanglie, where the two are expected to discuss China's concerns about U.S. marines being stationed in northern Australia.

The United States has accused "Chinese actors" of being the world's biggest perpetrators of economic espionage and U.S. security experts warn of a rising number of Internet-based attacks originating from China on U.S. corporate and government computers. China rejects the charges.

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Related News Links:
www.bbc.co.uk
www.arcyber.army.mil

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Australia defence chief 'avoids cyber spies' in China

It was reported that Mr Smith's computer and that of other Australian officials was hacked in March. The attacks were alleged to have originated from China, but China has dismissed the allegations.

Officials downplayed the latest developments, with Mr Smith telling reporters in Beijing that such measures "should not come as a surprise".

Full Article - BBC News

I have been watching many ATS threads the past few weeks and also following foreign relations between China and the US/ Australian allied status.

I am getting worried to be honest!

The above story made it to MSM headlines in Australia and was a covered on many talk shows etc.

It seems there is mistrust building between China and many other countries. Throw in recent claims of sabotage of chinese built parts for the US military! If it is ever proved as deliberate sabotage the question I have is; How did they know where those parts were going - that part is even scarier!

We sit around thinking that the US has supreme intelligence and spying capabilites but how do we know that China hasn't already infected systems and hacked US intelligence!?

The problem with the US is a superiorty complex and thinking it is at the top... what if China with all it's money and resources has already exceeded the US in computer technology?

How would we know?

There are also many issues regarding the deployment of US marines to the Northern Territory of Australia. China has not been happy with this and in recent months has been straining ties between Australia and China.

China is very silent about the US and speaking directly about them but when it comes to US military being placed in China's backyard they are very quick to speak up....

I hope for all out sakes that it doesn't get any worse!

in.reuters.com
(visit the link for the full news article)



Related Media -

reply to post by Havick007


The term economic esponiage is a bit rich coming from America, who set of the GFC, who invades nations to set up banks and who has the most out of control debt in the world? Man, I am glad someone has the US by the balls in terms technology.

I know China ain't no saint either, but when between a rock and a hard place we are #ed either way. May as well just call it how it is if we are to find anyway out of this mess.

reply to post by kwakakev


Yeah I agree but remember when it comes to military, who is the Australian government allied with??

The US will drag us down with them..

reply to post by kwakakev


Also China is still mainly communist, they are closer to North Korea than anyone else....

I would want nothing to do with them!

The only reason we trade is because our mining boom would not have happened without them. Also while our "boom" makes a small amount money now, all out minerals are going to China and increasing their growth.

Their GDP and annual growth dwarfs ours in Australia and those in the US.

reply to post by Havick007


Yeah, I know. If this Bush torture policy trial was picked up by the ICC it would really start to turn the tide, but there is not enough force yet available to proceed with the prosecutions. I am sure a lot of Americans would also be happy about this along with the rest of the world. As Isreal and the US is putting pressure in Syria and Iran looks like we are getting squezzed on this side of the fence as well as there has been a lot of grumbelling going on for a while.

Trying to blame China for the recent Flame cyber attack is conflicting with reports here on ATS that it was from Isreal based on some time zone stamps discover by Kaspersky. It is starting to feel like this ongoing ten year WW3 is starting to make everyone tired and someone has a death wish. It will be a bummer if we all have to go down for it. Looking deeper into 9/11 and there are few strong economic ties here in Australia that are also linked into the whole scandel.

I just want to add that if you can spare 5 minutes to comment then you can spare 5 minutes to watch the second I posted above.

It is basically a Chinese MSM perspective on the issue - Which is government controlled (Communist country).

It is basically saying that the only reason we have ties with them at all is due to economics and money. Just put yourself in the shoes of a chinese national watching that news clip...

It basically states that "we don't trust you, we dont agree with your political status but we want your money for trade"

One quote was that the fact our defence minister didn't take his laptop or cell phone to China was "a slap in the face to the CCP"


Interesting....

reply to post by kwakakev


The Israel thing is misinformation/disinformation...

China is hacking on a large scale...

4chan originated in China....

Do you remember last year, there were reports of a hacking "battle" going on between 4chan, lulzsec and anon...

It came down to mutual hackers from differenent countries going up against each other....



When it comes to ATS you need to know what to beleive and what not to. It's hard to read between the lines but it's obvious..

reply to post by Havick007


China does also make the best spring rolls. As for this democracy bit, it is dying. Assad in Syria is elected but still the US wants to cap him, just like JFK. If we stick with America in its current form we are in for the oligarchy as well and will end up with corporate rule.

reply to post by kwakakev


lolz.... and dumplings!!

To be honest I wish Australia would stay out of it and keep mutual!

If there is war or even economic battle.. Australia needs to realise that it needs to keep the interest of the public at heart. The chinese and australian relationship is better for Australia in terms of foreign trade.

The US hasn't done much for us at all really...

We have done more for them in the past 12 years than they have for us.... they are selfish in some ways and when it comes to military.

They use Australia for it's military and location...

anyone else notice the formidable juxtaposition of "mr. smith" with "cyber spying"? i wonder what the chinese equivalent to "mr. anderson" is.

it seems that anything but all out cyber warfare is fair game so long as you're not directly caught. a new chess piece on the board arises, and it's time to determine how it can move.

reply to post by Havick007


I expect China to be very annoyed and not trust us after we kick out one of their main telecommunication companies. This is the first I have heard of it and huge, we have got a zionist problem here. America has been intercepting all of communications since the 1960's with pine gap. Under the idea of net neutrality, it is important to keep the channels of communication open while respecting self determination of technology implementation. So China snooping by its self is not a bad thing, it helps them understand us better. Where is gets messy and calls for war is what they then choose to do with this information, work with us or against us.

China has been in Austraila for a long time, Ballarat was built on China's labour and there are huge communities in all the major cities. So how I see China responding to us is very much a part of how we respond to them. The risks and threats of cyber security are not a national one, but a global one. With the US busy on the war path it is just to reved up to engage in the cooperation required and spewing out to many lies to be taken seriously and responsibiliy on this issue. Looking into it, many of the symptoms are similar to mercury poisioning.

China has a huge population = many hackers

Lets not get that confused with a "technological advancement" now, it steals and back engineers Western technology it doesn't lead in anything or any area, its recent desperate attempts to steal technology and bug/infect components is a sure sign China is an enemy, it was most likely a sting operation to seek out Chinas intentions in order to have cast iron proof to show to the world, you can't arrest a country can you?, if you suspect someone is not as benevolent as they make out to be then test the water with them, give them a chance to prove there intentions as so you know where you stand with them, its kinda like leaving money on the side for a work colleague you suspect has been stealing from you ...

The fact China fell for the bait and bugged the military components anyway is a sure sign of its utter stupidity, the game is up and now the counter can begin

China is well and truly on the road to a direct confrontation with the Western World in the near future,

reply to post by TritonTaranis


That is the problem right there... over confidence.

I am not choosing sides as I want to stay neutral but don't be complacent...

reply to post by kwakakev


Yeah Ballarat and "Sovereign hill" were built around that, along with Bendigo... They still have the annual dragon festival.

They came here as propects though, just trying to strike it rich along with the Australian's and European settlers of the time in those area's..

reply to post by TritonTaranis


Also china probably has more people enlisted in the military than the US as a total population...

They still have mandatory military training when their nationals turn 18.... more discipline and training than the entire population of the US..

I hope you Aussies have brushed up on your Mandarin, because the Queen's English will be the new second language if China has any say in the matter. Just my opinion of course. I am not faulting the Defense Minister for maintaining cyber security while on business in China. It is typical operational security. China has proven that they will go after the low lying fruit if a host country is inadequately secured against cyber espionage.

I am not pointing the finger at China, because other nations have participated in such behavior. I would hope all Australian government officials would be mindful of cyber intrusion by any nation they are doing business with. It is great to be economic partners and maintain cordial relations. However, that does not mean give a complete stranger the keys to your house. It is common sense. China or any nation is going to have to realize that. As for the current military projections by the US in the Pacific? That is a testy issue for all involved, but I do believe China is taking steps to project military power and economic influence over their neighbors in the Pacific which would include Australia. I would imagine that is why the Australian government is welcoming US military forces on their soil. Just your usual run-of-the-mill geopolitical posturing.

Originally posted by Havick007
reply to post by TritonTaranis

 

That is the problem right there... over confidence.

I am not choosing sides as I want to stay neutral but don't be complacent...

There is no doubt China has capabilities but that is what the game is being played out here, intention & capabilities testing, i think the problem is people looking to much into it all, China has declared economic war years ago, they have now moved on to other none violent areas of the confrontation

There are no report of China accusing the West of stealing technology or information, or being caught red handed doing so, what we can assume from this is either they don't have anything worth stealing or are not getting caught, its obvious that this is because they're the ones trailing behind

reply to post by Jakes51


I'd like to see China try it...

They won't take us with out a good fight!

People under-estimate Australia

Screw mandarin!! Pfft to that!!

reply to post by TritonTaranis


China has it's own resources and it's own technology...

There are no reports because the companies that have their networks hacked don't want to admit to it...

Secondly, when did you hear mews coming out of china about it's military tech... if you think the US is keeping secrets... China is keeping even more secrets!

We barely get any news out of there at all let alone military tech news...

For good or bad: The U.S. military buildup in Asia

Proclaiming its fate to be strongly tied to Asia, the United States unveiled on Saturday detailed plans to build and strengthen its military presence in the region. Time will tell whether the growing U.S. presence becomes a positive force for the peace, development and prosperity of Asia, or simply heightens the tensions in a region already convoluted by an arms race.

Asia is increasingly caught in the paradox of prosperity: as countries become more prosperous, they spend proportionally more of their new wealth on defence. They go on massive shopping sprees not only because they can afford to but mostly because they want to protect their economic interests to ensure sustainable growth and development.

Budgetary constraints dictated that U.S. President Barack Obama draw down on the U.S.’ military operations and presence in the Middle East and Europe but not in Asia, where China’s military is increasingly challenging U.S. power and influence, though not necessarily yet its dominance.

Full Article

They are keeping up and will soon exceed the US... why? They have more budget and more brain power in China...

They have more resources...

I am not trying to start arguments, just trying to raise some awarness

For years, everyone has warned that counterfeit microchips made in China and installed on American military hardware could contain viruses or secret backdoors granting the Chinese military cyber access to U.S. weapons systems. These warnings/predictions recently expanded beyond counterfeit parts, now we’re worried that any Chinese-made components could be infected. The problem was that until this week, these warnings were educated guesses and theories. Well, a scientist at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom claims to have developed a software program proving that China — and anyone else — can, and is, installing cyber backdoors on some of the world’s most secure, “military grade” microchips.

Full Article

You don't find this stuff unless you look for it.... your MSM along with ours won't report it... it's reverse propaganda in their case...