The Coalition is calling for a federal investigation into reports that Australian universities could be arming hostile foreign governments with skilled cyber hackers.
This comes after allegations from academic whistleblowers revealed that Australian universities were potentially training Chinese hackers through teaching collaborations with Chinese universities.
Shadow Minister for Cybersecurity and Countering Foreign Interference, Senator James Paterson, has called on the federal government to launch an urgent investigation into the reports via the federal government’s Universities Foreign Interference Taskforce (UFIT).
“The mass training of students offshore to potentially go to work for the very agencies that are targeting Australia is deeply disturbing and concerning. I’ve worked with these whistleblowers directly, and I’m alarmed by their reports,” Paterson said….