Another Australian minister says phone hacker targeted Telegram to steal info on HK activists
A second senior Australian government has revealed his mobile phone was hacked through the Telegram messaging app, while a media report says the phishing scam was aimed at revealing contact details of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, Bloomberg reports.
Health Minister Greg Hunt’s office said in an emailed
statement on Thursday that “a cyber security attempt to impersonate the
minister has been referred to the Australian Federal Police and investigations
are underway.” That follows Monday’s statement by Finance Minister Simon
Birmingham that he had been targeted.
The Australian newspaper reported late Wednesday that the
details of pro-democracy Hongkongers were provided to someone impersonating
Birmingham, with one of the recipients being asked: “Do you have any contacts
in Hong Kong?”
The person handed over details of Hongkongers without
realizing they were speaking to a cyber-hacker, the paper said, citing the
person who it didn’t identify.
Birmingham told a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday that the
hacker had gained access to contacts in his government phone who had the
Telegram app. He said there was also another request from the person pretending
to be the minister asking for money to be transferred to a bank account outside
Australia.
“The AFP are seeking to, through their data security
processes, attempting to ascertain how any data was secured and are working to
try to get Telegram to shut down the false account,” Birmingham said, according
to a transcript sent from his office.
The phishing campaign, which was first reported to
authorities on March 18, “appears to be in the form of a message from an
associate and encourages recipients to download a messaging app for further
communication,” the Australian Federal Police said in a statement on Sunday.
The Australian Signals Directorate has declined to comment
on the scam. Telegram hasn’t replied to a message requesting comment sent on
Sunday via its website.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s office said on Monday it
doesn’t comment on police matters, while requests seeking comment from other
senior ministers on whether they were targeted haven’t been responded to.
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