<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At least three foreign nations are "willing and capable" of trying to assassinate a perceived dissident on domestic soil, </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/australia" rel="" target="" title="Australia's"><span>Australia's</span></a><span> </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/spy" rel="" target="" title="spy"><span>spy</span></a><span> chief has warned.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In a speech warning of the looming risks of artificial intelligence and calling out "state-sanctioned trolls" from Russia and other countries trying to stir up division, </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/asio" rel="" target="" title="Australian Security Intelligence Organisation "><span>Australian Security Intelligence Organisation</span></a><span> (ASIO) director-general Mike Burgess said the country faced an unprecedented number of security challenges.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Australia has never faced so many different threats, at scale, at once," he said, delivering the 2025 Lowy lecture on Tuesday night.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/dick-cheney-death-influential-republican-vice-president-to-george-w-bush-dies-at-84/a728d1c7-e557-4b2f-8913-25c1b12fa8db"><strong><span>Dick Cheney, US vice president behind 'war on terror', dies at 84</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Burgess warned Australia's much-valued community cohesion was "under siege, under threat, under attack".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Our social fabric is fraying – fraying in ways we have never experienced before," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This is not an accident."</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/asio-boss-mike-burgess-says-three-countries-willing-to-try-to-kill-on-australia-soil-asio-chief-warns/5c376751-0ef5-4d5c-a1f1-0e55cc487f62" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Burgess warned "cunning nation states" were trying to "fan the flames" started by aggrieved individuals and extremist groups.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Iran's sponsorship of high-profile anti-Semitic attacks earlier this year was the most egregious example but not the only one.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said ASIO agents had uncovered links between pro-Russian influencers in Australia pushing extreme online narratives justifying the invasion of Ukraine and an "offshore media organisation that almost certainly receives direction from Russian intelligence".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/trent-merrin-former-nrl-star-alleged-fraud-charges/6b3ba774-d66a-4685-8347-cdbc947b805c"><strong><span>Ex-NRL star arrested at Barrack Point home</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"These state-sanctioned trolls are more than propaganda puppets," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"They want to turn hot-button issues into burning issues, tipping disagreement into division and division into violence."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Burgess worried the foreign interference would cross the line from reckless to something more serious, saying there was a "realistic possibility" a foreign government would "attempt to assassinate a perceived dissident in Australia".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This threat is real," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/zahra-rachid-pleads-guilty-travel-agent-cancelled-customer-holidays-to-pocket-refunds/2af5b2f3-ba33-414c-ad4d-18f7e626f4cf" rel="" target="" title=""><strong><span>Travellers' cruel shock as they arrive at airport for holiday</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We believe there are at least three nations willing and capable of conducting lethal targeting here. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It is entirely possible the regimes would try to hide their involvement by hiring criminal cut outs, as Iran did when directing its arson attacks."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Closer to home, Burgess said the neo-Nazi National Socialist Network had exploited the March for Australia rallies to boost its profile.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"At its core, the National Socialist Network is anti-immigrant, anti-Indigenous, anti-gay, anti-Jew, anti-Islam and anti-anything that does not fit its white Anglo-centric world view," Burgess said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Its version of social cohesion is monochrome and mono-cultural.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Even if the organisation does not engage in terrorism, I remain deeply concerned by its hateful, divisive rhetoric and increasingly violent propaganda, and the growing likelihood these things will prompt spontaneous violence, particularly in response to perceived provocation."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He also warned of a "notable uptick in intentionally disruptive and damaging tactics by anti-Israel activists", while noting these acts were not so centrally controlled or even motivated by the same goals. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Amid all of these threats was the impact of the internet and social media in incubating and accelerating disaffection, misinformation and reinforcement, with AI a looming threat of exacerbating the risks.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"You will not be surprised to know I am deeply concerned about the potential for AI to take online radicalisation and disinformation to entirely new levels," Burgess said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Despite all this, Burgess left the lecture on a hopeful note, arguing Australia was better placed than many other Western democracies to meet the coming challenges.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727"><em><strong><span>Apple App Store</span></strong></em></a><span> </span><em><strong><span>and</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU"><em><strong><span>Google Play</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>.</span></strong></em></div></div>