Australian government falls prey to a hacking attempt, incident under investigation

• Officials are investigating the security incident that occurred on the government’s computer network.
• Following the hack attempt, the Department of Parliamentary Services announced that it reset all user passwords in the network.

The Australian Parliament became a victim to a hacking attempt yesterday, allegedly perpetrated by a foreign entity. Reportedly, ‘no evidence’ was available to show whether any confidential information was compromised in this incident.

However, the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS), which supports various functions of the Australian Parliament, disclosed that all user passwords in the computer network were reset post the hack attempt.

In a statement issued by DPS, it informed that the incident was being thoroughly investigated. “The Department of Parliamentary Services and relevant agencies are working jointly to take the necessary steps to investigate the incident, while our immediate focus has been on securing the network and protecting data and users,” the department stated.

Meanwhile, one Australian news outlet suggests that the country’s agencies are looking into the possibility of Chinese involvement. This could be due to the motive of influencing the upcoming elections or other political processes in the country by China.

Despite the attempt being labeled as ‘sophisticated’ by other sources, authorities did intercept the attack at its earlier stage. Else, it could have caused much more damage. Fortunately, the attack has not affected computers of government ministers and their staff. However, some opposition leaders have described the incident as a "wake-up call".