Australian National University has suffered one of Australia’s worst information security breaches, with hackers reportedly gaining access to 19 years of data.
It sounds like they got everything they wanted, names, addresses, DOB, phone numbers, personal emails, tax file numbers, bank account details, passport details.
The attackers are described as a ‘sophisticated operator’, were also able to access Student academic records. This system stores credit card details, travel information, medical records, police checks, workers’ compensation, vehicle registration numbers, and some performance records have not been affected. There’s no information on whether the credit cards details were encrypted or not.
This places these staff and students at a massive risk of identity fraud.
The disclosure has take an extraordinarily long time, with the unauthorised access occurring last year. ANU is now working closely with Australian Government Security agencies and industry security partners, but this is a genie that can’t go back in the bottle.
This Twitter thread from @ANUMedia details some advice for students.
You can read the full statement from Vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt at https://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/message-from-the-vice-chancellor
