If the intelligence community had its Logies, ASIO chief Mike Burgess would be chasing gold this week.

The director-general of security, who is better known than some junior ministers, appeared beside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday as they revealed how ASIO identified Iran as behind at least two, and probably more, of the recent antisemitic attacks in Australia. It was spycraft at its best.

The times suit ASIO. Enjoying bipartisan respect, Burgess presides over an organisation that flourishes in an increasingly threat-filled environment.

The times suit Burgess personally, too. He has carved out the highest public profile in the job of any of the organisation’s heads. He is a relentless public promoter of ASIO’s role and successes, in what he paints as very alarming foreign and local security worlds.

Burgess, who came to Australia from the United Kingdom as a small child, has a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Adelaide. Before being appointed by the Morrison government in 2019 to lead ASIO, he was director-general of the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), an intelligence organisation that focuses on defensive and offensive cyber security.

ANU security expert John Blaxland, a co-author of the official history of ASIO, captures the multifaceted Burgess.

“He’s the kind of guy who in other circumstances would be a hoodie-wearing, basement-dwelling introverted geek. He’s a technocrat. He grew up with ones and zeros, then mastered the art of management and of communicating his vision in words.”

Blaxland says Burgess’ skills matched a changed environment, as spycraft became increasingly digital and security threats often operated through the devices in people’s pockets or on their desks.

Burgess took the previously deeply secret ASD out of the shadows. For example, in 2019,........

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