(MENAFN) Espionage activities have cost Australia a staggering AUD 12.5 billion ($8 billion) during the 2023-24 fiscal year, Australian spy chief Mike Burgess disclosed on Thursday.

In a speech at an event in Adelaide, Burgess, who serves as Director-General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), detailed the financial toll of foreign cyber espionage. He revealed that nearly AUD 2 billion ($1.2 billion) worth of trade secrets and intellectual property were stolen from Australian businesses and companies in the past year alone.

"Espionage cost the Australian economy twelve and a half billion dollars in 2023–2024. This includes the direct costs of known espionage incidents, such as the state-sponsored theft of intellectual property, as well as the indirect costs of countering and responding," Burgess stated, according to an official transcript released on the ASIO website.

The figures come from a joint report by the Australian Institute of Criminology and ASIO, which highlights the pervasive threat posed by foreign intelligence agencies.

"Espionage takes away sovereign Australian choices and options. It corrodes our decision-making. It damages our economy," Burgess emphasized during the briefing.

The report identifies Russia, China, Iran, and several unnamed nations as key perpetrators of espionage activities.

Burgess highlighted that Moscow continues to pose a significant threat, noting that in 2022, Russia's undeclared intelligence officers were expelled, and two Russian-born Australians faced espionage charges last year.

Espionage, Burgess stated, impacts a wide range of sectors, spanning from critical infrastructure to defense and academic institutions.

He also pointed out that foreign intelligence services are showing a particularly "unhealthy" interest in AUKUS and its strategic capabilities.

Since the September 2021 AUKUS pact, which granted Australia access to nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Australian Navy, there has been increasing scrutiny of the collaboration. "And with AUKUS, we are not just defending our sovereign capability. We are also defending critical capability shared by and with our partners," Burgess added.

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