Some of Australia's biggest resource companies are increasingly concerned by cyber attacks from China and other countries, a report said Monday.

Speaking at The Australian Deutsche Bank Business Leaders Forum, outgoing Woodside Petroleum chief executive Don Voelte said the group has been attacked "from everywhere", not just from China.

"Let's not focus this on the Chinese: I saw the number of attacks against our company over a time period," he said, according to The Australian newspaper.

"It comes from everywhere. It comes from eastern Europe; it comes from Russia. Just don't pick on the Chinese; it's everywhere."

Shell Australia chairman Ann Pickard agreed the attacks were a concern.

"I would say we're very careful in this particular area," she told the same forum.

"The attacks on companies... is pretty big, so we're all very careful in this space."

The comments follow Lockheed Martin, one of the world's largest defence contractors, saying on Sunday it was investigating the source of a major cyber attack against its information network.

In April, Prime Minister Julia Gillard's parliamentary computer and the foreign and defence ministers' machines were all suspected of being hacked, with China under suspicion.

Security experts cited by media at the time said they believed the hackers may have been looking for clues on government attitudes to major resource projects.

Australia is a key supplier of hard coking coal and iron ore to China and other parts of rapidly developing Asia.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland said the government took cyber threats seriously.

"The Australian government takes the issue of cyber security very seriously and is constantly strengthening cyber security measures," he said.

"Part of this includes engaging with major companies and critical infrastructure organisations to ensure they're aware of the extent of the threats, and have strong systems in place to deal with attacks."

earlier related report
Australia's Resourcehouse in $3.6 bn Hong Kong IPO
Hong Kong (AFP) May 30, 2011 - Australian miner Resourcehouse has revived plans to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange, in a share sale that it hopes will raise up to $3.6 billion, company officials said Monday.

The firm, controlled by billionaire Clive Palmer, postponed its initial public offering in March over concerns about shaky stock markets, after two previous attempts to list since 2009 were also delayed.

The Brisbane-based miner plans to sell 5.716 billion shares for between HK$4.48 and HK$4.93 each (58-63 US cents), with a listing on the Hong Kong exchange planned on June 10, a spokesman in Hong Kong told AFP.

An over-allotment option to issue up to 857.4 million additional shares, representing up to 15 percent of the share offer will be exercised if the shares are over-subscribed, the firm said in a statement.

A listing in Hong Kong will allow the firm -- which is currently focused on thermal coal and iron ore mining projects -- to boost its profile in China, where demand for resources is growing.

The mining company plans to use a large part of the proceeds from the IPO to fund a thermal-coal project in Central Queensland and an iron-ore project in Western Australia, according to its prospectus.

Both projects are scheduled to start commercial production in 2014.

Resourcehouse's latest listing plan comes after Swiss firm Glencore, the world's biggest commodities trader by revenue, raised about $10 billion though a dual listing in London and Hong Kong this month.

Resourcehouse originally planned to list in November 2009, but postponed a roadshow as it prepared for an investment by Metallurgical Corp. of China.

Metallurgical, which bought a five percent stake in Resourcehouse for $200 million, said in February that it would start an investor roadshow for its Hong Kong IPO, but the firm pulled back again as stock markets were hammered by Greece's debt woes.

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