Australian authorities are investigating a breach of the country's federal parliamentary computing network after a suspected hacking attempt, the Australian parliament revealed Friday.

"Following a security incident on the parliamentary computing network, a number of measures have been implemented to protect the network and its users," parliamentary authorities said in a statement.

The statement, released by House of Representatives Speaker Tony Smith and Senate President Scott Ryan, said there's no evidence that data had been accessed in the breach, but investigations are continuing.

Read more: Six hack attacks that shook the world

"We have no evidence that this is an attempt to influence the outcome of parliamentary processes or to disrupt or influence electoral or political processes," it said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he had been briefed on the matter but could not comment on the source of the attack.

"I should stress that there is no suggestion that government departments or agencies have been the target of any such incursion," Morrison told reporters.

Read more: Top 10 mistakes that make life easy for cyber-criminals

Agencies investigating nationality of hacker

The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) confirmed it was working with the parliament in response to the attack, which suggests the breach may have involved serious hackers.

Australian public broadcaster ABC reported intelligence agencies were looking into whether China or another foreign government could be behind the attack.

"ASD and its Australian Cyber Security Centre will continue to work with [Parliament] to understand the full extent of this network compromise," and ASD spokesperson told French news agency AFP.

Though Australian officials have not blamed any country, in 2011 it was reported China was suspected of accessing the email system used by lawmakers and parliamentary staff.

Read more: Does technology threaten democracy?

"To undertake such an attack, you need some big resources, so a state actor is most likely," James Der Derian, director of the Centre for International Security Studies at the University of Sydney, told Reuters news agency.

"You have to look and see who has a grievance against Australia, and the most obvious suspects would be China and Russia."

Relations with China have deteriorated since 2017, after Canberra accused Beijing of interfering in its domestic affairs. Both countries have since attempted to mend ties, but Australia continues to be wary of China.

The Australian cyber breach follows revelations that parliamentarians in Britain were targeted by an attempt to hack into their email and phone contact lists earlier this week.

Hacking the 2016 US election: a timeline Democrats in the dark Over the summer, a security company hired by the Democratic National Convention tells the DNC that they have been successfully infiltrated by hackers for more than year. Two groups, known as Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear, both have links to the Russian government, the Washington Post reports.

Hacking the 2016 US election: a timeline All eyes on Russia At the end of July, the FBI launches an investigation into whether or not the Russian government ordered the DNC hack. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calls the move "paranoid."

Hacking the 2016 US election: a timeline 'Russia, if you're listening' On the campaign trail, Republican nominee Donald Trump encourages Russia to "find the 30,000 emails that are missing." In a series of debates with rival Hillary Clinton, Trump casts doubt on Moscow's role in hacks that targeted the DNC and Clinton's campaign manager, John Podesta.

Hacking the 2016 US election: a timeline WikiLeaks targets Clinton Anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks begins releasing slightly compromising emails from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. Co-founder Julian Assange defends targeting Clinton, saying Trump's own statements are indictment enough of the Republican nominee. Over a period of months, WikiLeaks consistently denies allegations that its sources are based in Russia.

Hacking the 2016 US election: a timeline CIA, FBI investigations In a rare moment of complete agreement for the two biggest intelligence agencies in the US, both the FBI and CIA come to the conclusion that the Russian government sought to influence the US election by promoting unfavorable coverage of Hillary Clinton.

Hacking the 2016 US election: a timeline Donald and Vladimir Trump, who has made no secret of his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, calls the intelligence reports "ridiculous." Anti-Clinton voices slam the probe as a distraction meant to discredit the now president-elect. This puts Trump at odds with Republicans in Congress who call for an independent investigation.

Hacking the 2016 US election: a timeline Obama expels diplomats At the end of December, the Obama administration expels 35 Russian diplomats and shuts down two Russian intelligence compounds as the Kremlin continues to deny having a role in the summer's cyberattacks. President Putin eschews direct retaliation, saying he will wait to see how President-elect Trump's Russia policies play out. Author: Elizabeth Schumacher



law/msh (AFP, AP, Reuters)

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.