Hackers have reportedly released around 16,000 Tasmanian education department documents on the dark web, including personal information of school children, financial statements, and invoices, as well as names and addresses of students and their parents.
The information was accessed through third-party file transfer service GoAnywhere MFT, which was hacked, and released by a Russian-linked hacker group named Cl0p. The Tasmanian government has set up a helpline for Tasmanians who are concerned about their data being compromised. The hackers did not make any ransom demands, according to Science and Technology Minister Madeleine Ogilvie, who urged Tasmanians not to pay if a ransom was offered.
The incident has been termed a serious situation, and emergency management arrangements have been activated. The Tasmanian government stated that it is managing the situation as a serious incident response and will continue to do so proportionate to the risk. The state opposition has called on Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff to step in and address the situation.
Rebecca White, the Labor leader, requested an urgent briefing from the premier, asking him to tell Tasmanians what exactly has happened, what the government is doing to manage the data breach, what support is available to families who fear they have been affected, and how that support can be accessed.
According to the Tasmanian Science and Technology Minister, there is currently no evidence that Tasmanian government IT systems have been breached.
However, this is an evolving situation, and it is not clear whether any further information will be released.
The data breach has raised concerns about the security of personal information and the potential risks associated with the use of third-party file transfer services.
