SYDNEY: Australia's top-ranked university said on June 4 hackers breached its cyber defences late last year to obtain sensitive data, including students' bank account numbers and passport details going back 19 years. The Australian National University (ANU) said it had only discovered the breach two weeks ago and that it was carried out by "a sophisticated operator", without elaborating. An earlier cyber attack, disclosed by ANU in July last year, had failed to gather sensitive information. According to World University Rankings, ANU is Australia's best university and many of its graduates go on to hold senior government positions, magnifying security sensitivities over the data breach. "National community agencies are recruiting directly out of ANU," said Fergus Hanson, head of the International Cyber Policy Centre at think-tank the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

Source: The Star June 04, 2019 06:11 UTC