Australian gov backs election system security after "highly likely" UK compromise

The federal government has sought to assure Australians that electoral systems are secure after it emerged that UK electoral systems “were highly likely compromised” between 2021 and 2022.

The UK government, together with its cyber security agency, attributed “two malicious cyber campaigns targeting democratic institutions and parliamentarians” to China-affiliated threat groups.

In a joint statement, foreign affairs minister Penny Wong and cyber security minister Clare O’Neil said Australia’s electoral systems had not been impacted by the campaigns.

“Australia’s electoral systems were not compromised by the cyber campaigns targeting the UK,” they said.

“Australia remains well positioned to continue to resist and address threats to our electoral roll. This is critical to maintaining public trust in our democracy. 

“The Australian Electoral Commission has strong measures in place to ensure Australia’s electoral roll is secure. 

“This includes working closely with members of the Electoral Integrity Assurance Taskforce, to ensure Australia’s systems are protected from the threat of foreign interference.”

The UK said that its National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) had assessed “that the UK Electoral Commission systems were highly likely compromised by a Chinese state-affiliated entity between 2021 and 2022.”

It also said that a separate group, APT31, was “almost certain[ly]” responsible for “reconnaissance activity against UK parliamentarians during a separate campaign in 2021”, though it added that “no parliamentary accounts were successfully compromised” in the incident.

UK authorities said they had “today summoned the Chinese Ambassador to the UK, and sanctioned a front company and two individuals who are members of APT31.”

Simultaneously, the US unsealed an indictment against seven Chinese nationals allegedly affiliated with APT31.

It accused them of a “vast illegal hacking operation that targeted sensitive data from US elected and government officials, journalists and academics; valuable information from American companies; and political dissidents in America and abroad.”

UK home secretary James Cleverly said in a statement that it “is reprehensible that China sought to target our democratic institutions.”

Cleverly said that recent legislative changes had “made the UK an even harder target”.

“Our upcoming elections, at local and national level, are robust and secure,” he added.