Australian politicians and companies targeted by year-long cyberattack [Video]

Australian government agencies and companies have been targeted by a sophisticated year-long espionage campaign, according to US cyber security company Proofpoint.

The hackers are known as Red Ladon or Leviathan and are closely aligned with the Chinese government security services, says a report by Proofpoint.

Victims received emails directing them to fake news websites that infected their devices with a harmful code.

This code would allow the hackers to access certain information such as the victim’s browser or the type of device that was being used. This information would then be exploited for future cyberattacks.

The main targets of this, according to Proofpoint, were Australian government officials as well as people involved in energy, shipbuilding and financial services. 

“One of the things that’s surprising is that …