ASIO report shows increased activity

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The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), says it has had its most intense period of operational activity since 2005.

ASIO's annual report says in the last financial year it detected and responded to a new alleged terrorist cell - the group of Melbourne based Islamic extremists planing to attack a military base.

It also picked up internet espionage as a rapidly growing threat to Government and business information.

The organisation rejected visas for two people considered security concerns either because of links to terrorist organisations or foreign governments.

It says small numbers of Australians continue to look to overseas conflicts for inspiration and some aspire to go to join in or learn from the tactics employed there.

But it says communal violence within Australia is overall a low level concern and most protest activity was peaceful.

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Police head to Asia to fight smugglers

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JONATHAN PEARLMAN AND YUKO NARUSHIMA

October 28, 2009

AUSTRALIA is preparing to dispatch police across Asia to fight people smugglers and expand intelligence and security ties with Indonesia under a landmark deal that could be unveiled within weeks.

Under the deal with Jakarta - which will build on the Lombok Treaty and the Bali Process - the Government is expected to provide extra funding for detention centres, deploy additional police and customs officials and help to train security officials.

The Government is also planning to send extra police and diplomats to Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Malaysia.

But the Immigration Minister, Chris Evans, said yesterday the so-called Indonesia solution had begun in ''about 2002'' under the former prime minister John Howard, who provided millions of dollars to Jakarta to assist with processing refugees and preventing illegal migration.

''Our engagement with Indonesia on these matters is longstanding and that funding of these measures has been going for many years under successive governments,'' Senator Evans said.

''We have also helped fund some staff and training requirements to make the [detention] centre that was funded under the Howard government operational, to try and improve the skills of those in charge of the centre and to support their staffing needs.''

Since the latest influx of boats, the Government has dispatched senior ministers for overseas meetings with counterparts from Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia.

The meetings have focused on plans to expand Australia's deployment of intelligence personnel, customs officials and diplomats to countries such as Sri Lanka and Indonesia, which are departure and transit points for hundreds of thousands of potential asylum seekers.

The Government is also understood to have begun training and dispatching spies from the Australian Secret Intelligence Service to gather information on illegal immigration and to assist with infiltration of people-smuggling networks.

The Australian Federal Police is set to expand its presence in the region and its ties with regional police forces and intelligence agencies, particularly in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia. This will include providing equipment to the Indonesian National Police and deploying anti-people-smuggling officers across Asia.

In its annual report released yesterday, the federal police said people smugglers were working in multinational networks and prevention efforts must involve cross-country co-operation.

with Brendan Nicholson

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Spying has never been so easy

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JONATHAN PEARLMAN NATIONAL SECURITY

October 27, 2009

AUSTRALIA'S domestic spy agency has warned that foreign intelligence agencies have expanded their cyber-espionage and are developing new equipment to infiltrate Australian governments and businesses.

In its annual security review, ASIO labels terrorism as its top priority. It says internet-enabled hacking and spying and foreign interference remain serious risks and that the threats are becoming more sophisticated.

The review, tabled in Parliament yesterday, is an unclassified version of a highly sensitive report to the Attorney-General, Robert McClelland.

''The threat of hostile intelligence services exploiting Australian information systems was brought into sharper focus, with traditional espionage methods supplemented by new high-technology techniques,'' it says.

''ASIO found further evidence of hostile intelligence services using the internet as a means of appropriating confidential Australian government and business information.''

ASIO says ''small numbers of Australians'' continue to pose a terrorist threat and seek inspiration and resources from foreign conflict zones and failed states.

''The Middle East, South Asia and now East Africa are the primary sources of motivation and capability for extremists in Australia … and some aspire to participate in the violence or seek to learn from the tactics and techniques employed by extremists.''

The director-general, David Irvine, said counter-espionage experts were working with other security agencies to bolster electronic security for government and businesses.

''Today's increasingly interconnected world has great benefits, but it also provides new opportunities for state and non-state actors to advantage themselves at Australia's expense.''

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

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Terrorist attack threat remains: Australian spy agency

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Australia's security intelligence organisation, ASIO says a terrorist attack in Australia remains a possibility.

In its annual report, ASIO says its identified new extremists and terrorism related activity.

The most serious threat is the alleged planning by a Melbourne based group of Islamic extremists for a suicide assault on a military base. 

The spy agency says attacks in Islamabad, Mumbai and Lahore in the previous financial year reinforced its view that terrorism continues to be a persistent threat. 

ASIO says it rejected visas for two people considered security concerns either because of links to terrorist organisations or foreign governments. 

The organisation says small numbers of Australians continue to look to overseas conflicts for inspiration and some aspire to go to join in or learn from the tactics employed there. 

But it says communal violence within Australia is overall a low level concern and most protest activity was peaceful.

Espionage activities

When it comes to other nations spying on Australia, ASIO says traditional espionage techniques have been supplanted by new high tech methods. 

The agency says it has found evidence of hostile intelligence services using the internet to appropriate confidential government and business information.

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