'Sophisticated state actor' behind Australian Parliament cyber attack

Aus PM Scott Morrison. Pic/AFP

Melbourne: Prime Minister Scott Morrison Monday said a "sophisticated state actor" was behind a cyber attack on the Australian Parliament's computing network earlier this month and the "malicious intrusion" also hit the networks of some political parties.

Morrison's comments follow an investigation into the hacking attempt, which was first thought to involve only the Parliament's servers. "During the course of this work, we also became aware that the networks of some political parties have also been affected," he said. Morrison said that there was "no evidence of any electoral interference". "Our security agencies...are securing these systems and protecting users," he said.

He said cyber experts believed that a sophisticated state actor was responsible for the "malicious activity". Morrison , however, did not name any country.

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