Foreign spies are using Tinder and other dating apps to recruit Australians with access to sensitive government secrets.
ASIO boss Mike Burgess made the alarming revelation while delivering his annual threat assessment, in which he also warned identifying anti-vaccine activists who could turn violent was proving difficult.
In a wide-ranging address to an audience of military chiefs, security bosses and politicians inside ASIO's Canberra headquarters, Mr Burgess confirmed espionage and foreign interference has now "supplanted" terrorism as the "principal security concern", declaring the recent AUKUS nuclear partnership an obvious target for international agents.
During the past two years, thousands of Australians with access to classified information are believed to have been targeted by foreign intelligence services using social media profiles.
"These spies are adept at using the internet for their recruitment efforts," Mr Burgess said.
"There's been a jump in suspicious approaches on messaging platforms like WhatsApp, for example."
Overseas intelligence operatives are even being monitored by ASIO on popular dating apps as they try to lure Australians with access to official secrets.
"My message for any potential victims on these sites is a familiar one — if it seems too good to be true, it probably is."
The Director-General of Security said going online was an easy way for foreign intelligence services to target employees of interest.
"On any of the popular social media or internet platforms, they make seemingly innocuous approaches — such as job offers," Mr Burgess revealed.
"This then progresses to direct messaging on different, encrypted platforms, or in-person meetings, before a recruitment pitch is made."
Foreign interference plot on an unspecified Australian election also revealed
A spy ring led by a wealthy "puppeteer" linked to a foreign government recently attempted to bankroll vulnerable political candidates in an unspecified Australian election, to get sympathetic MPs elected to parliament.
Tantalising but only vague details of the thwarted plot were detailed by the ASIO boss as he warned of the risk of foreign meddling in this year's upcoming federal contest.
A person, who Mr Burgess dubbed "the puppeteer", hired another individual to enable foreign interference operations and used an offshore bank account to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars for operating expenses.
"The employee hired by the puppeteer began identifying candidates likely to run in the election who either supported the interests of the foreign government or who were assessed as vulnerable to inducements and cultivation," he said.
"This year – a federal election year – we need to be particularly on guard against foreign political interference," Mr Burgess said, declining to name specific countries that pose a threat.
Anti-vaccine mandate protesters closely monitored
The Director-General also described how COVID-19 has sent online radicalisation into "overdrive", with isolated individuals spending more time exposed to "extremist messaging, misinformation and conspiracy theories".
"Some Australians believe the government's approach to vaccinations and lockdowns infringed their freedoms. And in a small number of cases, grievance turned to violence," he said.
"In this uptick in specific-issue or grievance-motivated violent extremism, many of the actors are newcomers, so it's harder to get a sense of what is simply big talk — and what is genuine planning for violence."
Over the past week, some protesters in Canberra have been recorded on video calling for violence against elected officials, including the execution of the Prime Minister.
Mr Burgess revealed suspects younger than 18 now make up more than half of ASIO's priority counter-terrorism investigations each week.
"Where once minors tended to be on the fringe of extremist groups, we are now seeing teenagers in leadership positions, directing adults, and willing to take violent action themselves," he said.
"ASIO is aware of minors preying on other minors, seeking to turn them to their violent ideology and using grooming techniques similar to those used by paedophiles."
Following last year's fall of Afghanistan's government to the Taliban, ASIO is continuing to monitor the country closely, warning violent extremists from this region may again travel there for militant training.
