According to an internal Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade briefing, a fake email was sent to a number of DFAT officers in the week beginning July 12, just over a week after the arrest in China of Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu.

The fake email purported to be sent from what the DFAT briefing described as ''a senior Commonwealth Public Service officer'' and had the subject heading ''Australia-China Free Trade Agreement Negotiations Update''.

After examination of the suspicious email, DFAT's diplomatic security branch issued an urgent warning to all staff that such emails could contain ''dangerous [electronic] viruses which could extract information from user desktops or disrupt their operations''.

Although the anti-virus systems used in the department are designed to detect and block malicious software, the branch acknowledged that they could not always guarantee protection from newly released viruses and DFAT officers were reminded to be vigilant in checking email messages for suspicious characteristics.

DFAT insiders said the format and content of the email strongly suggested that it originated in China and was designed to collect intelligence from department computers.

Full report in today's Canberra Times