Amy Remeikis reports that despite early assurances from the government that all information was “low-level,” the TAFE breach (noted previously on this blog) included some sensitive information such as sex assault and bullying complaints:
“However, in relation to records deemed to be of a more sensitive nature, the department needed to contact 16 people to alert them to this cyber crime,” Ms Jones told Parliament on Thursday afternoon.
“I can confirm that all of these matters dating back to 2013 were dealt with appropriately at the time.
This does not appear to a be a simple “hack because we can and because we want to embarrass someone” hack, as it’s now clearer that there was an extortion demand:
Emails dated October 30, purportedly from the hacker, demanded a ransom of 26.81 Bitcoins – a virtual currency used mostly for online transactions – in return for not releasing the information.
Neither the Education Department or the chief information officer have commented on the alleged ransom note.
The police investigation continues.
Read more on Sydney Morning Herald.