If you have been a student, staff member, or even just visited the Australian National University at some point in the last two decades, sorry to be the bearer of bad news but a heap of your personal data is at risk.
In a statement issued out by ANU’s Vice-Chancellor, the uni’s systems was illegally accessed by a “sophisticated operator” in late 2018 and was only detected recently.
This wasn’t any tiny prank from some disgruntled student or employee either as the data breach resulted in unauthorised access to “significant amounts” of staff, student and visitor data dating back 19 years.
Nope.
The list of personal info that’s at risk is pretty extensive as it includes names, addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, personal email addresses and emergency contact details, tax file numbers, payroll information, bank account details, passport details, and student academic records.
So yeah, it’s pretty hefty data breach this one.
Not everything was exposed by the breach though as systems that store credit card details, travel information, medical records, police checks, workers’ compensation, vehicle registration numbers, and some performance records are all okay.
Oh and for those currently working or studying at ANU, it is reported that its teaching and learning platforms, and research work appears to have not been affected either so no need to worry about that.
If you were affected by this data breach, the Vice-Chancellor states that ANU is working closely with Australian government security agencies and security partners to investigate and will keep everyone up to date on what’s happening.
For those who still have massive worries about this breach, ANU has set up a direct helpline at 1800 275 268 (calls will be kept confidential) for all your concerns or if you just need to vent to someone.