Australia’s domestic intelligence chief has issued a stark warning that foreign state-linked hackers are actively probing the nation’s critical infrastructure — and that the country now faces a real risk of “high-impact sabotage.” The head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), Mike Burgess, disclosed that at least two hacking groups tied to a foreign government and military have attempted to penetrate systems underpinning water, transport, telecommunications and energy networks.

In a business forum in Melbourne, Burgess named the groups as Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon — describing them as “hackers working for Chinese government intelligence and their military.” He said that Salt Typhoon had previously infiltrated telecommunications networks in the United States and was now probing Australian telecom systems.

Volt Typhoon, he said, has been linked to past compromises of U.S. infrastructure and is believed to be positioning for sabotage capabilities.

The cost to Australia of espionage and cyber theft alone was placed at approximately A$12.5 billion in the 2023–24 financial year, including around A$2 billion in stolen trade secrets and intellectual property.

Burgess warned that the ability to disable critical services — or even corrupt water or energy supplies — would no longer be a hypothetical scenario.

“Once access is gained,” he said, “the question becomes intent, not capability.”

He urged businesses and the government to rapidly bolster cyber defences, noting that even a temporary telecommunications outage can have serious consequences, let alone a coordinated, prolonged attack on multiple sectors.

The warnings come amid similar alerts from allies in the broader intelligence-sharing alliance covering the United States, United Kingdom and other partners.

In response, representatives from the foreign state implicated rejected the allegations and described the warnings as “false narratives” aimed at creating confrontation.

Regardless, Burgess reiterated his determination, insisting national security required transparency — even at the cost of diplomatic friction.

The government has called on both public and private sectors to treat cyber resilience as a top priority as Australia braces for what it says could be a very dangerous phase in global espionage and sabotage threats.