What does the University of Sydney say about the recent data breach?
The University of Sydney (USYD) has announced that a recent breach at a third-party service provider has exposed personal information belonging to candidates who submitted recent admission applications.
It is one of the most important educational institutions in Australia. It began operations in 1850 and today has almost 70,000 students. It also employs approximately 8,500 people (academic and administrative staff).
In its statement on the data breach, the University of Sydney said the cyberattack had a limited impact. The investigation so far has found no evidence that local students, staff or alumni have been affected.
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“The issue was isolated to a single platform and had no impact on other university systems. There is currently no evidence to suggest that personal information has been misused,” the University said in its statement.
The University of Sydney says it will inform all individuals who have been affected by the data breach and will advise them on how to deal with the situation.
Regarding the data accessed by the attacker, USYD says it is still investigating the situation, but urges all individuals who had applied to the university to follow the instructions provided on this website.
For any other questions or to report suspicious communications (e.g. phishing attempts) students should contact ict.support@sydney.edu.au.
At present, we do not know when the data breach occurred, nor who the third-party provider that was breached was.
Although it appears that USYD's systems have not been affected, students should remain vigilant and be very careful with the messages, calls, and emails they receive in the coming period.
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“The University takes its responsibility to protect our community’s data very seriously and we have informed the relevant cybersecurity authorities as well as the Data Protection Commissioner,” the statement said.
Hackers target universities
Several university-related cybersecurity incidents have been coming to light recently. Last week, the University of Michigan took its systems offline to address a serious cybersecurity incident.
In June, the University of Manchester was also affected by a data breach. Hackers managed to steal data from its networks.
See also: Sourcegraph website hacked
Earlier this year, ransomware gangs attacked and disrupted the operations of Queensland University of Technology, the Open University of Cyprus , and Bluefield University.
Cyberattacks against universities highlight the growing need for cybersecurity measures in the education sector. Educational facilities hold a wealth of sensitive data, from personal student and staff information to research and patents, making them attractive targets for hackers. Developing a robust security framework, which includes user education, implementing up-to-date security protocols, and conducting continuous threat assessments, is crucial to protecting this sensitive information.
Source: www.bleepingcomputer.com
