COMPUTERGRAM INTERNATIONAL: NOVEMBER 30 1999 SECTION: INTERNET + Australian Spy Agency ASIO Licensed to Hack The Australian Parliament has passed laws permitting the Australian Security Intelligence organisation (ASIO) to hack into private computer systems and change data. The Australian Senate approved the ASIO Amendment Bill 1999, which gives the spy agency the legal right to conduct computer surveillance. While ASIO is only allowed to change data on computers if such an action is "necessary", privacy and civil rights activists are furious. Senator Natasha Stott Despoja, leader of minority party the Australian Democrats, pointed out that the bill tacitly endorses ASIO planting evidence. Still, if the agency's rudimentary web page (http://asio.gov.au/asio/) is any indication of its IT skills, there may be no cause for alarm.
