Chinese and Russian spies have reportedly tried to hack into top secret details of Australia's future submarines.
The hacking attempts have targeted the submarine builders in Germany, France and Japan bidding for the $20 billion contract to build the new fleet, The Australian newspaper reports.
The bidders are holding highly sensitive information about the Royal Australian Navy's technical requirements for its new-generation submarines.
It's understood the federal government has raised the issue of cyber security with each of the foreign bidders.
Manfred Klein, campaign manager Australia for Germany's TKMS, told The Australian: "We have about 30 to 40 (hacking) attempts per night, that's what our IT people say."
