China steps up efforts to steal Australian company secrets

• China directed an increase in cyber attacks on Australian companies this year that breached a bilateral agreement between the two countries to not steal each other's commercial secrets.
• An investigation by Fairfax Media and broadcaster Nine News found that China's Ministry of State Security was responsible for the so-called "Operation Cloud Hopper."
• It was a wave of attacks that were detected by Australia and its partners in the "Five Eyes" intelligence sharing alliance — the U.S., U.K., New Zealand and Canada.

By Saheli Roy Choudhury

China directed an increase in cyber attacks on Australian companies this year that breached a bilateral agreement between the two countries pledging not to steal each other's commercial secrets, the Sydney Morning Herald reported Tuesday.
An investigation by Australian broadcaster Nine News and Fairfax Media — which owns the Sydney Morning Herald — found that China's Ministry of State Security was responsible for the so-called "Operation Cloud Hopper." 

It was a wave of attacks that were detected by Australia and its partners in the "Five Eyes" intelligence sharing alliance — which is made up of the U.S., U.K., New Zealand and Canada.
A senior Australian government source told the Sydney Morning Herald that China's activity was a "constant, significant effort" to steal intellectual property. 

Others said local companies and universities were not doing enough to tighten their cybersecurity against such attacks, the newspaper reported.
Cybersecurity experts also told the newspaper they had noticed "a significant increase in attacks in the first six months of this year" and that the activity was "mainly from China."
Relevant contact details for China's Ministry of State Security were not immediately available.
The Sydney Morning Herald's report came after recent remarks from U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who accused Beijing of intellectual property theft during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.
Western countries have long accused China of stealing intellectual property as well as commercial and military secrets.

In recent years, China has stepped up efforts to create sophisticated home-grown technologies as it aims to catch up with other high-tech countries like the U.S. and Germany.
In 2015, Chinese dictator Xi Jinping struck an agreement with former President Barack Obama to curb cyber espionage. 

However, a U.S. intelligence official said earlier this month that China was violating the agreement.