NSW Department of Education target of cyber attack

The NSW Department of Education has been the target of a cyber attack, with several systems pushed offline since Wednesday.

The attack comes shortly before classes were set to begin for Term Three, with schools in the greater Sydney region expected to teach for the first four days of the term remotely due to the state's recent lockdown measures.

In response to the attack, several additional systems have been “deactivated by the Department as a precaution”.

Georgina Harrisson, NSW Education secretary, outlined that the attack came at a difficult time for the department with the state both being in lockdown and ahead of a new school term.

"The timing of this creates considerable challenges for staff as we prepare for the start of Term Three," Harrisson said.

"Thankfully, our teams have been able to isolate the issues and we are working to reactivate services as soon as possible.

“I am confident we will have the issue resolved soon and want to reassure teachers and parents that there will be no impact on students learning from home next week.

“Whilst we are confident all systems will be back online before day one of term three, we are making information to support home learning available on our public website so that preparations for the start of term can continue.”

According to a release from the Department, the matter has been referred to the NSW Police and relevant federal agencies, while they continue to work alongside Cyber Security NSW.