Foreign spies are posing as diplomats or reporters to engage and influence journalists, says Australia’s domestic spy chief Mike Burgess.
In his wide-ranging Annual Threat Assessment speech, the head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) also revealed his agency recently disrupted a “hive of spies” implanted in society for many years.
“I am telling you this for two reasons. First, it’s an example of ASIO’s more aggressive counter-espionage posture. We are stepping up our investigations, expanding our capabilities, sharpening our responses, and hardening Australia’s security environment,” he said.
“There’s another reason for highlighting the hive. I want to dispel any sense that espionage is some romantic cold war notion. It’s not; it is a real and present danger that demands we take security seriously,” he added, noting that foreign intelligence services were “aggressively” seeking secrets from government, research, defence, and a range of professions.”…