ABC News reported that the ANU Systems were compromised last year and in an unbelievable string of events are STILL inside their systems.
The director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute described the events as “Amazingly Serious” and an “Unacceptable situation”
ANU has been working with the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) over the period to help recover and remove the attackers, Apparently with little success, to which Peter (From ASPI) said “That strikes me as unbelievable”
He believed the hackers would be interested in obtaining a range of information from the ANU
Amazing sequence of events!
What I found amazing is that Students were only informed after it appeared in the news. Which I believe might breach Australia’s new breach reporting legislation. How is it they’ve been under constant attack for a year, and they’re still in there?
Has any data been stolen?
ANU said they did not believe any data had been stolen
“Current assessments indicate no staff, student or research information has been taken and counter-measures are being undertaken,” ANU said.
Mr Jennings’ response wasn’t nearly as optimistic, “My sense is that it would be impossible for a sophisticated Chinese entity to be operating on the ANU system and not get value out of it.”, “There is no excuse for any complex Australian organisation to be naive about the risk of intellectual property theft, particularly by China,”
Students Left in the Dark
In an email to students, Vice Chancellor Brian Schmidt confirmed the media reports and said students might experience delays whilst they continue the cleanup
Mr Jennings said the ANU had a lot of questions left unanswered that it needs to address, specifically how and when this significant breach occurred.
“What were they doing to protect their systems? What were they doing to make sure their systems were being checked?”
Chinese Hackers inside ANU is a concern
While Cyber Security Minister Angus Taylor would not confirm that China was behind the attacks, he said the Government “condemns any malicious activity” that targets Australia.
“We know that nation-states and criminal groups actively target research and tertiary institutions to steal the intellectual property of hardworking Australians,” he said.
“Malicious cyber activity against Australia’s national interests, whether from criminal syndicates or foreign states, is increasing in frequency, sophistication and severity, and the Australian Government’s highest priority is ensuring Australians are safe and our interests are secure.”
