MELBOURNE, Australia — Recent revelations from the head of Australia’s primary domestic intelligence agency indicate that three foreign governments have been found plotting to carry out hostile actions against individuals residing in Australia. Mike Burgess, who serves as the Director General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), shared these concerning insights during a security briefing held on Wednesday in Canberra, although he refrained from naming the involved nations.
Burgess reported that one nation attempted to lure a human rights activist into traveling from Australia to a designated third country, where assailants planned to carry out assaults or even execute the target. Fortunately, ASIO was able to step in and thwart this planned travel.
“In a few specific instances, we had serious concerns for the safety of the individual at risk,” Burgess explained in his speech delivered at the ASIO headquarters. He further detailed another incident in which a different government aimed to harm or take the lives of individuals in Australia, tied to a wider initiative aimed at silencing critics globally. ASIO, in collaboration with international security partners, managed to disrupt this operation early on.
In both scenarios mentioned, the individuals orchestrating the plots were located outside of Australia and thereby outside the reach of Australian legal jurisdiction. Details regarding the plot linked to the third government were not disclosed by Burgess.
The ASIO chief also addressed a collaboration concerning domestic and international cybersecurity issues. He revealed that ASIO had notified U.S. authorities regarding a 12-year-old boy who was making plans to execute mass shootings across the United States. Upon surveillance of online social platforms, ASIO encountered a self-identified neo-Nazi, who expressed intentions to livestream a school shooting and subsequently target places of worship such as churches and mosques.
Additionally, Burgess uncovered activities of a cyber unit from an unspecified foreign nation that targeted critical infrastructure networks within the U.S. This same group consistently attempted to explore and compromise Australian networks, aiming to install malware and retain ongoing access to these systems.
“In response, ASIO collaborated closely with our American colleagues to expel the hackers and dismantle their global network access, which included nodes located in Australia,” Burgess noted.
Burgess also discussed foreign spy agencies focusing their efforts on undermining Australia’s AUKUS partnership with the United States and the United Kingdom, which is set to facilitate the development of an Australian fleet of submarines utilizing U.S. nuclear technology. AUKUS stands for Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and its agreements cover a broader spectrum of security initiatives beyond submarines, including advancements in artificial intelligence, electronic warfare, and hypersonic weaponry.
“ASIO has identified that foreign intelligence services are attempting to target AUKUS, aiming to gather information on our capabilities, understanding how Australia plans to deploy them, and to erode the trust of our allies,” Burgess said. He emphasized that AUKUS would continue to be a crucial target for intelligence gathering, even by nations perceived as friendly, although he did not specify which countries those might be.
