Friday, April 3, 2009

World Leader 'unaware' of alleged Chinese spying

Australia - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he has not been told that Chinese spies tried to infiltrate his email and listen to his phone calls when he visited Beijing for last year's Olympics.

The Australian newspaper is reporting Chinese spies have repeatedly tried to tap into the Prime Minister's email and mobile phone communications, Government and business IT networks and foreign embassies in Canberra.

The newspaper reports that China directly targeted Mr Rudd last August, saying he and his staff were under constant cyber attack from Chinese authorities trying to access laptop computers and mobile phone calls. (more with full audio report)

What's wrong with this story?
A. Mr. Rudd had been properly briefed, but diplomatically downplayed the incident.
B. Mr. Rudd needs a more open channel with his intelligence staff.
C. Like many leaders (public and private sector), naive arrogance blinds caution.

In case there is any doubt that spying is very real, look at some of my first-hand experiences, here and here. ~ Kevin