australia
Victorian Department of Education says hackers stole students’ data
The Department of Education in Victoria, Australia, notified parents that attackers accessed a database containing the personal information and email addresses of current and former students, prompting password resets. The department disclosed the breach in letters sent to parents, stating that an unauthorized third party accessed students’ names, school names, year levels, and school-issued email […]
University of Sydney suffers data breach exposing student and staff info
Hackers gained access to an online coding repository belonging to the University of Sydney and stole files with personal information of staff and students. The institution said the breach was limited to a single system and was detected last week. It promptly shut down the unauthorized access and notified the New South Wales Privacy Commissioner, […]
Man behind in-flight Evil Twin WiFi attacks gets 7 years in prison
A 44-year-old man was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison for operating an “evil twin” WiFi network to steal the data of unsuspecting travelers during flights and at various airports across Australia. The man, an Australian national, was charged in July 2024 after Australian authorities had confiscated his equipment in April and confirmed that he […]
Russian bulletproof hosting provider sanctioned over ransomware ties
Today, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia announced sanctions targeting Russian bulletproof hosting (BPH) providers that have supported ransomware gangs and other cybercrime operations. BPH providers that lease servers to cybercriminals to help them hinder disruption efforts targeting their malicious activities, including phishing attacks, malware delivery, command and control operations, and illicit content […]
Microsoft sued for allegedly tricking millions into Copilot M365 subscriptions
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is suing Microsoft for allegedly misleading 2.7 million Australians into paying for the Copilot AI assistant in the Microsoft 365 service. Even though subscribers could have stayed on their existing plan without Copilot and at the same price, the ACCC says that Microsoft concealed that option and designed […]
Ex-student charged over hacking university for cheap parking, data breaches
New South Wales police in Australia have arrested a 27-year-old former Western Sydney University (WSU) student for allegedly hacking into the University’s systems on multiple occasions, starting with a scheme to obtain cheaper parking. Specifically, the woman, identified by local media reports as Birdie Kingston, is accused of unauthorized access, data theft, and compromising university infrastructure since […]
Australian Human Rights Commission leaks docs to search engines
The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) disclosed a data breach incident where private documents leaked online and were indexed by major search engines. Many of the hundreds of documents exposed online contained private, sensitive information, like names, contact information, health details, schooling, religion, employment info, and photographs. AHRC is an independent statutory body established by the […]
Western Sydney University discloses security breaches, data leak
Western Sydney University (WSU) announced two security incidents that exposed personal information belonging to members of its community. WSU is a prominent Australian institution offering various undergraduate, postgraduate, and research programs across multiple disciplines. It serves a student body of 47,000 and employs over 4,500 permanent and seasonal staff, operating with an annual budget of […]
Australian pension funds hit by wave of credential stuffing attacks
Over the weekend, a massive wave of credential stuffing attacks hit multiple large Australian super funds, compromising thousands of members’ accounts. The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA), Australia’s advocacy body for the superannuation industry, said today that “a number of members were affected” even though the “majority of the attempts were repelled.” Reuters has learned […]
Australia bans all Kaspersky products on government systems
The Australian government has banned all Kaspersky Lab products and web services from its systems and devices following an analysis that claims the company poses a significant security risk to the country. “After considering threat and risk analysis, I have determined that the use of Kaspersky Lab, Inc. products and web services by Australian Government […]