The Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, as well as other persons of the country's high ranking officials have become favorite targets for Chinese hackers, local media reports. Various government and intelligence sources attribute the attacks to cyber-espionage efforts sponsored by the government in Beijing.

According to The Australian, during his visit to China in August 2008, Prime Minister Rudd, was targeted by hackers, who attempted to spy on his communications. All laptops and mobile phones used by the Australian delegation are said to have been attacked.

This news comes soon after researchers from the "Information Warfare Monitor" project have published a paper about an alleged Chinese cyber espionage network dubbed "GhostNet." The name comes from a computer Trojan known as "Gh0st RAT," which is very popular in the Chinese hacking underground.

As the research indicates, vast amounts of sensitive information have been leaked from "computers located at ministries of foreign affairs, embassies, international organizations, news media, and NGOs," that were infected with this piece of malware. The report evolves around the Tibetan office of Dalai Lama, which seems to have been particularly targeted and while it does not specifically state that the Chinese government is responsible, a story from The New York Times strongly suggests it.

The Australian quotes multiple anonymous sources from inside the government and the intelligence agencies, who admit that the threat of electronic espionage sponsored by the Chinese government is real and has been increasing in intensity for the past several years.

Speaking in front of the Australian Parliament on the issue of national security back in December 2008, Mr. Rudd noted that "Australian policy, military and intelligence institutions, directions and capabilities are attractive intelligence targets for foreign powers. […] Electronic espionage in particular will be a growing vulnerability as the Australian Government and society become more dependent on integrated information technologies." He concluded that  "Both commercial and state-based espionage, while not visible to the public eye, are inevitable."

The Chinese government has strongly dismissed the recent allegations about its spying practices, which appeared in the international media. Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, points out that the true origin of such attacks is very hard to determine, because hackers can use compromised computers in other countries to launch them.

"We'd be naive to think that the Chinese (and just about every other country around the world) isn't using the internet for its political, commercial and military advantage, but we should be very cautious about making assumptions without having all the proof in front of us," he advises.