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Australian Universities Teaching Cyber Skills in China

by | Tue, Mar 7 2023

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There are concerns Australian universities, which are collaborating with Chinese education institutions, are teaching cyber hacking skills to foreign students.

Some universities partnering with facilities in China are teaching informational technology courses which, according to whistleblowers, include offensive cyber hacking techniques and highlight Australia’s cyber security weaknesses.

Industry specialists are concerned this will sabotage efforts to protect key Australian infrastructure from cyber attacks.

Sky News reports, the Australian National University, University of Melbourne, University of Sydney and University of Queensland all currently have partnerships with China.

The Opposition’s Cyber Security Spokesman James Patterson says there must be greater accountability.

“I’m calling on the Albanese Government, particularly through the University’s Foreign Interference Taskforce, to launch an urgent investigation to get to the bottom of these very serious reports,” said Senator Patterson.

“This is exactly the sort of thing that the University’s Foreign Interference Taskforce was set up to prevent from happening.”

“Universities have said they are on top of this issue – clearly they are not.”

Senator Paterson has called on the Labor federal government to urgently investigate.

 

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