Australian Prime Minister Morrison said yesterday that three political parties (Liberal, Labour, and National) have been targeted by "sophisticated foreign actors". The attempts came to light during investigation of attempts on Parliament's systems. Chinese intelligence services are the leading suspect, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The Guardian reports that China's Foreign Ministry denies any involvement, and reports of Chines attacks are both "baseless" and "irresponsible." 

Details on how the attacks were carried out remain sparse. They are said to have used (at some stage) a novel form of malware with China's "digital fingerprints," but it's possible that this could be misdirection by some other state's intelligence services. The Register says the operations could have been the work of China, Russia, Israel, or the United States, but that's a cautious statement of a priori possibility based on conjectured national capabilities. (And where, by the way, are France and United Kingdom on that list?) Official suspicion rests on China.

Avast reports a new malware family, "Rietspoof," spreading through instant messages.

Reports in the Telegraph and elsewhere suggest that a report on Huawei's security issues and the company's suitability for participation in 5G networks from the UK's National Cyber Security Centre will be very far from the harsh condemnation that had been widely suspected. The NCSC is believed to have concluded that the risks Huawei poses are manageable, and that GCHQ sees its way clear to mitigating them.

Facebook receives harsh criticism in the UK over data use and content management practices.