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As part of its clean-up following the data breach it suffered in December, the University of Wollongong (UoW) has announced several new security measures to prevent similar incidents and mitigate further damage.
The attack occurred on 7 December 2023, with the university revealing that the incident was quickly contained. Data potentially accessed by unauthorised third parties includes names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers and potentially superannuation member numbers, bank names and bank account numbers.
In its latest release, the UoW has said that its investigation into the data breach has since been completed, which now allows them to inform staff and students of the specific individual impact they face because of the incident.
Following the breach, the university has also revealed that it has taken steps to further secure its systems and has installed new security measures.
“The university sincerely apologises for any inconvenience to staff and students and wishes to reiterate that the impacted system has been contained and all necessary actions [are] taken to strengthen controls in an effort to prevent similar incidents [from] occurring,” said UoW.
Students looking to check if they have been affected should contact the university’s AskUOW service, while staff should contact IDCARE, “or create a P&C Help Desk Ticket”.
In the FAQs on its website, the university has revealed three key measures have been implemented since the breach, not the least of which is stronger cloud security measures.
“We have implemented new security controls over key cloud-based systems incorporating the latest best-practice techniques. We have also activated additional security monitoring services,” the university added.
“There is a function to report phishing in Outlook when you have the email open. Each report is investigated by the cyber security team at IMTS, and necessary actions, including the blocking of senders, will be taken.”
The university has said that it has not observed any cases of phishing emails in the aftermath of the incident but has urged that students and staff “stay vigilant by reporting suspicious emails and avoiding clicking on any unknown or suspicious links”.
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