Senior intelligence figures have been alarmed by the scale of the breach and the possible motivations behind it,with widespread ramifications for other Australian universities.
The Sydney Morning Herald andThe Age can reveal the intelligence community fears the data will be used to target promising young students in the hope they can be used as informants as they move through their careers,notably in government departments and even intelligence agencies.
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All ranks of the public service,including the Defence Department and secret intelligence bodies like the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation,are littered with ANU alumni.
Australian officials regard the latest hack as a major national event following breaches of federal Parliament's computer network and the Liberal,Labor and National parties last year.
One source said that Chinese intelligence had likely learnt from other sophisticated international players such as Russia. During the Cold War,the then Soviet Union used long-term tactics such as contacting or recruiting western students at prominent universities. Among the most famous were the"Cambridge five",the ring of British diplomats and spies who had been secretly recruited by the KGB while they were at Cambridge University.
Authorities have described the ANU attack - the second on the university in a year - as"sophisticated",indicating it is almost certainly a foreign government rather than a criminal group or politically motivated hackers.