• Bruce Krasting
    05/21/2013 - 10:48
    The gold and bond markets have been "saying" that QE is ending for the past few months. The equity and junk markets have largely ignored the signs. June is setting up as an interesting month.

Aussie Central Bank Discloses Chinese Cyber-Attack

Tyler Durden's picture




The Reserve Bank of Australia’s computer networks have been repeatedly and successfully hacked in a series of cyber-attacks to infiltrate sensitive internal information. The RBA disclosed to The Australian Financial Review (after their investigation) that multiple computers within the RBA’s network were had been infiltrated by a Chinese-developed malicious software. While no details were given on what information was stolen, a defense department official warned, that "the targeting of high profile events, such as the G20, by state-sponsored adversaries... is a real and persistent threat. Cyber intruders are looking for information on... the government’s intentions." The hack appears related to the 2011 G-20 summit, at which the French government have already confirmed over 150 computers were hacked for months with files "redirected to Chinese sites." Australia’s cyber-spy agency, the Defense Signals Directorate, said “there are many examples of [Australian] entities being targeted due to involvement in high profile events” like the G20. Currency wars meet cyber wars - or is it the other way around?

Via The Australian Financial Review,

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s computer networks have been repeatedly and successfully hacked in a series of cyber-attacks to infiltrate sensitive internal information, including by ­Chinese-developed malicious software.

 

...

 

After investigations by The Australian Financial Review, RBA officials disclosed that the central bank had been infiltrated by a Chinese-developed malicious software, or “malware”spy program that was seeking intelligence on sensitive G20 negotiations.

 

...

 

The Defence spokesperson did, however, warn that “the targeting of high profile events, such as the G20, by state-sponsored adversaries ... is a real and persistent threat.” “Cyber intruders are looking for information on... the government’s intentions.”

In March 2011, Paris Match revealed, and the French government confirmed, that over 150 computers in its Ministry of Economy and Finances had been hacked for months before the French-hosted G20 summit in February 2011.

 

Tense negotiations with china

 

Many confidential government files were then “redirected to Chinese sites”. More than 10,000 state­ computers needed to be shut down.

 

The 2011 G20 summit involved tense negotiations with China over the level of its exchange rate, currency reserves and trade surpluses, which North Atlantic officials argue are being manipulated to China’s advantage.

 

...

 

Australia’s cyber-spy agency, the Defence Signals Directorate, said “there are many examples of [Australian] entities being targeted due to involvement in high profile events” like the G20.

 

DSD has disclosed that in October 2011 “an Australian government agency was compromised when a socially engineered email was sent to an agency employee who worked on G20 matters”. “This email pertained to be about G20 matters and appeared to come from the employee’s general manager.”

 

...

 

Executable Malware Application

 

RBA officials told the Financial Review that DSD was brought in to fix this problem.

In the incident report, in the FoI documents, the RBA said that over two days in November 2011 “highly targeted malicious emails were sent to several Bank staff, including senior management up to head of department”.

 

...

 

Officials from the RBA’s Risk Management Unit said: “Bank assets could have been potentially compromised, leading to . . . information loss and reputation [damage].”

Richard Byfield, a former senior Australian defence official with cyber responsibilities and current government adviser, told the Financial Review central banks and listed companies were cyber targets “because they hold so much confidential information that has the potential to move markets”.

 

At the time of the November 2011 incident, financial markets were undecided about whether the RBA would cut rates for a second month in succession. The RBA’s board surprised some participants with its decision to lower the cash rate on December 6.

...

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Sun, 03/10/2013 - 16:50 | 3317667 otto skorzeny
otto skorzeny's picture

the Aussies better quit blaming the Chinese-who else is going to buy up all of their commodities at these inflated prices? this blame game is getting stupid-pointing fingers will soon lead to pointing loaded guns

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:07 | 3317721 knukles
knukles's picture

Gotta wonder along those lines just why the Ozzies would be so upset with somebody trying to find out important information from the G-20.  I mean the G-20 of all institutional affiliations within the show, eat, fart, coke, hookers, photograph and meaningless speech club.
For example: Seating arrangements at the main conference table, seating arrangements at dinner, lunch and breakfast.  Menus.  Each and every last menu that the folks would be feasting upon.  The wine list... a bigger deal no less considering the nominal (notional amount) of expensive wines to be consumed.  Floral decorations.  Hyacinth or Chrysanthemum?  You get the picture.  Major questions like, "Will Obama Attend hisself or send John Kerry.  Who is John Kerry?  Hookers.  Who has contracted to provide the hookers to the guys?  The girls?  The other whatevers? How many hookers?  How many guys?  Girls?  Whatevres?
Understandably, the list of information is virtually (LOL, unintended) endless, like Pi. 
But it has fuck all of any functional utility.
So, who cares, really, other than the guys who need to get the bigger budgets for more anti-hacking, retaliatory hacking, hacking hacking, hocker hacking, porn and tranny porn hacking.
Who the fuck cares?
Oh, and the Enquirer.  Yes, they're in need of some "meaty" stories.

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 18:24 | 3317784 francis_sawyer
francis_sawyer's picture

It wasn't a hack ~ just a few harmless bitcoin miner tag~teams up to their usual hijinks... If you click the ad on the side of the page, you can get in on the fun too for $1299 [or have a little less fun for $649]...

~~~

Who makes the money off the franchise on selling those computer cards anyway?... I guess it's a legitimate question...

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 18:53 | 3317917 Manthong
Manthong's picture

The kids have got to find something to do in their spare time.

“Not enough jobs to go round for China's 6.3 million graduates a year”
http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/asia-pacific/not-enough-jobs-to-go-round-for-chinas-6-3-million-graduates-a-year

“new computer science graduates are so plentiful that their pay in Shenzhen has fallen to just $550 a month, less than double the wage of a blue-collar worker”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/25/business/as-graduates-rise-in-china-office-jobs-fail-to-keep-up.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Mon, 03/11/2013 - 03:27 | 3318616 TwoShortPlanks
TwoShortPlanks's picture

China's deliberate footprints and redirections showing China spying on RBA Rate movement is just misdirection, what they're really spying for is whether the RBA has commenced Gold purchases. This is China putting the feelers out there.

Remember, the Bush Lap-Dog Howard Government sold off 2/3rds of Australia's Gold Reserves a decade ago (sell that dip Howard ya fuck-head).

The Chinese are more than aware that the rest of the world (particularly the West) knows China's Gold habits and assumed intent of a Gold backed Yuan. Knowing is one thing, doing something about it is a different story. China needs to know that Intel.

This is actually an ASIO and ONA issue, DSD is merely called upon to do the investigative work.

Like I've been saying; China has state sponsored Student Hacking Rings...good hackers get Defense jobs.

Anyway, China's Gold aspirations are very real...and so should yours be!

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:15 | 3317750 Scro
Scro's picture

The Chinese are very concerned about the Aussies plan to convert the national currency to bitcoin. They will shutter all gold and silver mines and just mine for bit coins, you know, because bitcoin is safer and a better investment.

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 18:01 | 3317839 Kirk2NCC1701
Kirk2NCC1701's picture

Good use of irony, Scro.

Mon, 03/11/2013 - 06:10 | 3318695 awakening
awakening's picture

That was Sir Menzies and the Japanese, not the Chinese. Not a bad attempt though (the downvote was not mine, actually got an upvote). :)

"In 1938 his enemies ridiculed him as "Pig Iron Bob", the result of his industrial battle with waterside workers who refused to load scrap iron being sold to Imperial Japan."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Menzies (being the most at hand online reference, as opposed to wasting more time digging up an academic reference).

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 18:17 | 3317864 TheGardener
TheGardener's picture

Police states on the way to fully fledged dictatorship
are modeled on the lowest common denominated gullible sheep.

Their computer security lacks accordingly.

Conformity is any parasites dream, no need to crack code
if only the one password is politically correct.

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 18:35 | 3317891 smlbizman
smlbizman's picture

i would think the chinese are the last ones to suspect....someone probably thru down a chinese glove...

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 20:23 | 3318095 espirit
espirit's picture

Well, it is obvious that only China can write the Chinese language and hack programs redirecting to Chinese websites.

That's why we (US) need to spend billions on cyberwarfare units.

I'm not sure it's needed though, after all we usually give up secrets moar freely than that (i.e. Los Alamos).

/sarc intended.

 

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 16:57 | 3317673 american eyedol
american eyedol's picture

ben bernanke has actually done the right thing we've been printing money for 100 years lets go for another 100,,,,as gold as the foundation ,,,,,,,,,

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 16:58 | 3317686 EscapeKey
EscapeKey's picture

genuinely curious here, but if the entire world elite (according to conspiracy theories abound) work together, then why would the chinese even need these persistent hack attacks?

or are they supposedly not real either? sort of electronic psyops?

 

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 16:59 | 3317693 american eyedol
american eyedol's picture

the elite have benfited in china as well of course it is all set up, they are argueing over a useless island for god sakes

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:06 | 3317725 Cathartes Aura
Cathartes Aura's picture

need to know basis. . .

layers and layers, each populated by individuals filtering information specific to their task, via their own beliefs/mindset.

conformity controlled more tightly as one ascends the pyramid.

is this not how governments, military, corporations, ect. all function?

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 16:59 | 3317690 falak pema
falak pema's picture

why should the chinese attack the Aussies unless the aussies are patsies for the US? 

IS there an intelligence network between USA and Aussie land?

"Operation chinchong" monitoring China and the chinese knee jerk to it? 

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:41 | 3317800 fudge
fudge's picture

Oz is still letting the US fly drones out of one of their mainland air force bases,,,

Do stupid shit to China - expect the Chinese to not be happy and return the favour in another manner.

one of many instances.

 

 

Mon, 03/11/2013 - 03:34 | 3318619 TwoShortPlanks
TwoShortPlanks's picture

Where, Tindal???

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 18:42 | 3317903 TheGardener
TheGardener's picture

"why should the chinese attack the Aussies unless the aussies are patsies for the US? "

Tiny Aussie populations vulnerability is a patsy in the game. Back than the commodity dollars and their currencies got hammered if market control had free play. Aussies on a leash and a commonwealth experiment ground are brought into line with them overwhelmed with non white immigration and
submerged into Australasia and subsequently treated as such.

Sorry Aussies, you are on your own, sold out to NWO.

Mon, 03/11/2013 - 03:40 | 3318620 TwoShortPlanks
TwoShortPlanks's picture

No-No, WE ARE SORRY!
The Global Elite will be relocating all their wealth to Aust as European stability is too low.
Australia, the new Switzerland....Gold Custodians....HQ NWO & Agenda21....'The Capitol'.

Sorry rest of World, you're on your own.

Mon, 03/11/2013 - 06:13 | 3318697 awakening
awakening's picture

'IS there an intelligence network between USA and Aussie land?'

 Yes, not the first time I sent a special greeting to the folks sweating it out at Pine Gap, NT, Australia. :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Gap

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 16:59 | 3317692 dick cheneys ghost
dick cheneys ghost's picture

Im not sure which 'disinformation' to believe anymore........

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:49 | 3317815 cossack55
cossack55's picture

"All of it, none of it, it doesn't matter"

 

                         Dagney Taggert

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 18:41 | 3317892 YHC-FTSE
YHC-FTSE's picture

+1

The "Chinese" hacker thing has been intensifying in the msm with no signs of abating. Pretty intense and you'd think the whole world of news media had come down with amnesia about just where even the words, hacking, malware, phising, and cyber warfare originated. You'd also think a sophisticated hacker would at least use a proxy server, but no, it's all going to some warehouse in Guang-dong helpfully lit up like a Christmas tree on google  maps.

It is now taken for granted by the average sheep that the world's most active hackers are in China. Less than 6 years ago, it was the US and Israel, and apparently all the thousands of hackers in those countries have disappeared off the face of the earth. Weird. 

Australia is part of the intelligence sharing network called Echelon, so perhaps this is a real hack from China. But you know what? I don't have a clue any more what information to trust about alleged cyber crimes when it is apparent that the criminals issue the press information in the first place. 

With a budget in the multiple billions, and set to increase personnel five fold this year, not one msm outlet mentions the world's biggest and oldest hacker: Pentagon's cyber warfare division, aka Cyber Command.  According to the Guardian, that division's antics does not even include the $20 billion the NSA spends on outsourcing electronic surveillance work to private companies like Booz Allen.

 

 

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 20:16 | 3318079 Jendrzejczyk
Jendrzejczyk's picture

While our overlords are attempting to direct our attention offshore, the real cyber threat to most Americans comes from inside our own borders.

Be careful what you do online.

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:05 | 3317699 sampo
sampo's picture

Maybe the Chinese just didn't believe their eyes seeing the information that 99% of Australia's gold was "stored" abroad.

 

And wanted to check the real situation..

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:10 | 3317733 knukles
knukles's picture

That's Austria's gold, not Australia's.
I know, I know, all them white Anglo-Saxon Protestants look the same

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 18:05 | 3317840 sampo
sampo's picture

Nothing also looks the same on all sides of the Atlas.

 

http://www.silverdoctors.com/bank-of-australia-admints-99-9-of-gold-rese...

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:02 | 3317702 Edward Fiatski
Edward Fiatski's picture

We're getting FRISKY!

"BEIJING--Chinese financial institutions issued 620 billion yuan ($99.76 billion) of new yuan loans in February, below economists' expectations and down from CNY1.07 trillion in January, data from the People's Bank of China showed Sunday.

The median forecast of 13 economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires was for CNY700 billion of new yuan loans.

 Total social financing--a broader measurement of credit in the economy--was CNY1.07 trillion in February, compared with CNY2.54 trillion in January."

http://www.nasdaq.com/article/china-new-yuan-loans-cny620-billion-in-feb...

Condolences to AUD longs.

TEEE Minus 1 Hour

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:10 | 3317723 american eyedol
american eyedol's picture

the chinese have built their infrasture off of the dollar now its time for internal consumption raises in wages and all those people will be moving into all those empty buildings but all that we hear over here in west is a housing bubble which will explode and give way to a western dollar crisis and in reality there is no crisis. Gold revaluation

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:04 | 3317717 DoChenRollingBearing
DoChenRollingBearing's picture

It will soon be time for OUR guys to do a little cyber-attacking...  You think that WE do not know how to slip some malware into China?

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:08 | 3317729 american eyedol
american eyedol's picture

silver will go no where it will be like a roller coaster though with a final downward thud......good luck selling all your silver on ebay

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 22:22 | 3318337 Angus McHugepenis
Angus McHugepenis's picture

eBay, lol... I've never signed up or tried to sell anything on that POS site ever since they came into existence. I check it out every 3 years or so just to see what info they want from me for the privelege of paying them to use their service. The fees they charge are beyond greedy. Add in PayPal fees and it's stratospheric! Only morons who are too fucking lazy to get off their ass and find better deals use eBay to buy/sell shit online. Their FREE site Kijiji will get you more CASH sales in your local area than dicking around with fees and running to the post office on time to make sure you maintain your 99.7% approval rating on eBag.

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:11 | 3317742 knukles
knukles's picture

Stuxnet, Duqu amongst others?

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:33 | 3317781 DoChenRollingBearing
DoChenRollingBearing's picture

10-4, mate!

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:51 | 3317818 cossack55
cossack55's picture

Who, precisely, are "OUR" guys?

Mon, 03/11/2013 - 01:08 | 3318548 jonjon831983
jonjon831983's picture

You do know OUR guys have been cyber attacking for a long time?

Many haven't realized what Stuxnet and its derivatives have been simply because it has been portrayed so plainly in our eyes that it was against some msm hated country.

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:08 | 3317732 lolmao500
lolmao500's picture

Who cares. Fuck private central banks.

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:09 | 3317734 savagegoose
savagegoose's picture

they wanted a date julia gillard gets knifed in the back and replaced as PM / leader  before the next election.

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:16 | 3317752 ziggy59
ziggy59's picture

They all spy and attack each other..or, Maybe someone is trying to blame China and stir more crap..

Like in movie Sum of All Fears

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:22 | 3317765 PaperBear
PaperBear's picture

I have a bridge to sell you.

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:31 | 3317774 debtor of last ...
debtor of last resort's picture

Disinformation. Propaganda. How much Aussie dollars they created, just for fun? Beat the beard. There's a new game in town.

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:33 | 3317785 thisandthat
thisandthat's picture

Isn't the first rule of a successful attack to, well... successfully spoof its source? I know it's easy to blame it on Can... erm... China, but are they really sure those smiles come with a squint?

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:34 | 3317788 malek
malek's picture

I always have to envision myself in the opponents shoes for a moment - I mean a US government agency would NEVER ever do this, not once in a thousand years right?
And then this self-righteous indignation, just like KD - big LOL!

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:35 | 3317793 akak
akak's picture

Chinese citizenism cyber blobbing-up: it's the mattering thing.

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:44 | 3317805 max2205
max2205's picture

One key stroke and poof, all your money is gone....to china

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 17:50 | 3317808 GMadScientist
GMadScientist's picture

Well when you depend on this guy for your anti-virus software, what do you expect? 

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 23:22 | 3318438 Dave Thomas
Dave Thomas's picture

Tell me you wouldn't do some MDMA analouges at his pleasuredome with those young womens he always has laying around.

Or would you rather discuss the intracasies of journaling filesystems with Peter Norton?

http://www.collezionedatiffany.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/...

Sun, 03/10/2013 - 23:25 | 3318440 Non Passaran
Non Passaran's picture

As opposed to what other AV software?

Mon, 03/11/2013 - 06:34 | 3318717 awakening
awakening's picture

Damned "spams or scams, that come through the portal" are out to get us!

With inspiration from Australian 'Communications' Minister Stephen Conroy - http://delimiter.com.au/2010/06/08/oh-dear-conroys-spams-or-scams-in-the... , http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/ski-holidays-drag-ministers-stephe... .

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!