Students and staff at the Australian National University say they're worried their personal details have been hacked as part of a university-wide data breach.
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Details including names, addresses, phone numbers, bank account details, tax file numbers and passports were accessed in a "sophisticated" breach across 19 years that was detected on May 17.
University student Aaron Zepeda said it was alarming his academic records and private records were exposed, but he wasn't surprised by the hack.
"I thought it would happen eventually," Mr Zepeda said.
"Data breaches have happened before and there's been data breaches everywhere ... Having details out there without wanting to be there is concerning."
Those at the university were informed of the breach just after 11am on Tuesday in a campus-wide email, with students and staff told to change their passwords and look out for suspicious online activity.
Ivo Vekemans said staff and postgraduate students were the most at risk due to the data they supplied to the university.
"We should all be concerned, but staff should be more concerned because we provide bank details to them," Mr Vekemans said.
"A lot of students doing higher research also have scholarships and scholarship owners as well provide details."
Martin Skilleter said he wasn't alarmed at first when he heard about the news until he read about the extent of the data breach.
"I wasn't that concerned until I realised they had access to bank details, and then I thought I should be more concerned," he said.
"The university provided us with an email and a phone number to call if we had concerned."
Another student, Isabel, who did not want her last name published, said the university should have been more upfront about the hack, after it waited two weeks after the incident to inform people.
"I would rather it be done sooner rather than them admitting it later on," she said.
"I feel like if they sent out an massive email about it, it's not the kind of information everyone would care about."
Some students, who did not want to be named, told The Canberra Times they had thought about changing passwords but it was too soon to think about measures to change bank or passport details in the wake of the hack.
Despite the concern of many students, some weren't overly worried about the breach, with memes quickly popping up on university Facebook groups.
"At first I thought the breach was kind of funny," Mr Zepeda sad.
"The jokes have already started about it, and everyone's been having a lot of fun posting memes about it."
Another student, who declined to be named, said the threat of personal information being stolen was as serious as it could be because thousands of people at the university had been affected.
"It feels dispersed because it happened to everyone," he said. "The threat feels dispersed as well, so I don't feel like I have to be overly concerned."
Andrew Brown
I've been part of the Canberra Times since 2016, after reporting at local papers in Sydney's north-west. Since starting at the paper I've had stints on the Sunday Times, on the early morning breaking news round, and now as a general reporter, covering the ins and outs of anything and everything happening in Canberra, with a focus on health.
I've been part of the Canberra Times since 2016, after reporting at local papers in Sydney's north-west. Since starting at the paper I've had stints on the Sunday Times, on the early morning breaking news round, and now as a general reporter, covering the ins and outs of anything and everything happening in Canberra, with a focus on health.
