OVIC commences investigation into cyber incident at the Department of Education
The Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC) has commenced an investigation into the cyber incident that occurred at the Department of Education.
OVIC is aware that an unauthorised external third party was able to access the names, email addresses, school names, year level and encrypted passwords of past and present government school students.
OVIC has been engaging with the Department prior to its public notification of the incident in January. As a result of this engagement OVIC has now moved to commencing an investigation into how the incident occurred, and whether the Department has upheld its obligations under the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014.
As this is an active matter, OVIC will not be making further public statements whilst the investigation is ongoing.
Individuals or families affected by the incident should contact the Department directly via
1800 338 663 or via email at enquiries@education.vic.gov.au for further information and steps you may need to take to reduce the risk of harm.
You may also wish to read our resource ‘Data breaches and you‘.