Australia data breach: 90,000 staff, students, suppliers impacted at Melbourne Polytechnic

guest · Mar 13, 2020

Australia data breach: 90,000 staff, students, suppliers impacted at Melbourne Polytechnic
A 34-year-old man has been charged in connection with “highly complex” breach
March 13, 2020
https://portswigger.net/daily-swig/...s-suppliers-impacted-at-melbourne-polytechnic

UPDATED A higher education institution in Victoria, Australia, has disclosed a data breach impacting the personal data of around 90,000 staff, students, and suppliers.

In a security alert issued yesterday (March 11), Melbourne Polytechnic said Victoria Police had notified them that an individual who attended the campus in late 2018 had “obtained unauthorised access to Melbourne Polytechnic’s computer systems by hard logging onto the network; overcoming security measures”.

The technical and further education institution (TFE) said that around 55,000 files were accessed, comprising personal data – including email addresses, passwords, and financial and health information – that was held in some of its IT systems between September and December 2018.
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A second, unidentified educational institution also appears to have been targeted, since the police added that “it is alleged the man gained unauthorised access to data from two higher education institutions between August and December 2018”.
Compromised files
A spokesperson for Melbourne Polytechnic, which accommodates more than 50,000 students, told The Daily Swig that 90,000 individuals had been impacted, more than half of whom had at least one piece of personal information accessed during the breach.

The institution said for “the vast majority” of victims only Melbourne Polytechnic usernames, passwords, and email addresses were exposed.
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Melbourne Polytechnic alerts staff and students following cyber breach

Melbourne Polytechnic was notified of the data theft in late 2019 following an investigation by Victoria Police, who have charged an individual. Forensic ICT specialists and cybersecurity experts have spent the past months analysing the highly complex set of files to determine the extent and scale of the breach.

In addressing the incident, Melbourne Polytechnic CEO Frances Coppolillo apologised to all those involved.

“On behalf of Melbourne Polytechnic, I offer my sincere apologies to all the people affected by this data breach. In sharing your information, you expected us to keep it safe and I am sorry that we were not able to do so,” Ms Coppolillo said.
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Australia data breach: 90,000 staff, students, suppliers impacted at Melbourne Polytechnic

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