‘Spy on spy’: Australia’s Intel CEO exposes foreign spy network

Australia is a member of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing organization.

Sydney:

The head of Australia’s main intelligence agency revealed on Wednesday the existence of a “task force” of foreign spies who had recruited Australian academics, politicians and businessmen for years to obtain sensitive political, economic and defense information.

In an extremely rare public revelation of a counterintelligence operation, Australian Security Service chief Mike Burgess revealed the existence of the unit, which belongs to an unnamed country and is aimed at disrupting ongoing counterintelligence operations. action.

“Currently there is a specific team within a specific foreign intelligence agency that has a particular focus on Australia – and we are a priority target,” Burgess said in a speech in Canberra.

“We call them ‘Team A’ – Team Australia.”

“Many of the guys here tonight are almost certainly high-value targets. This group is aggressive and experienced; its trading skills are good, but not good enough,” he said.

Burgess, the head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO), said the group was targeting Australians with access to “privileged information” on social networking sites, using “fake, British personas” and promising cash award.

“These spies posed as consultants, headhunters, local government officials, academics and think tank researchers, claiming to be from fictitious companies such as Data 31,” he said.

“If the target takes the bait, the spy will attempt to move the conversation to an encrypted messaging application. Next steps may include offering the opportunity to travel abroad and meet in person.”

He outlined examples of when this approach has been successful, gathering information from an academic and an unnamed former politician who “sold out their country, party and former colleagues to advance the interests of foreign regimes” .

“At one point, the former politician even proposed bringing a prime minister’s family into the orbit of espionage,” he said.

– Spies and spies –

Explaining why he was declassifying information about the unit, its operations and counterintelligence measures taken against it, Burgess said he wanted to warn Australians about the risks.

“On one professional website alone, 14,000 Australians publicly boasted about having security clearances or working in the intelligence community. Some even claimed to be intelligence officers,” he said.

Australia is a member of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing group, which includes the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand, making it an attractive target for agents from countries including China and Russia.

But Burgess said he also wanted the other party to know that its spies had been exposed and that the unit’s captain had encountered Australia’s own spies.

“We want Team A to know that its cover has been blown. We want the owners of Team A to know that its cover has been blown,” he said.

“If the team leader failed to report our conversations to his spymaster, he must now explain why he failed to do so and how ASIO became so aware of his team’s movements and identities.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)