Personal details of 13,000 Perth TAFE students hacked
Hackers have accessed the personal details of more than 13,000 students at North Metropolitan Technical and Further Education in Perth, according to education minister Sue Ellery. Ellery described the breach as "unsophisticated", and said there was no evidence that students' financial records had been compromised. Western Australia Auditor General Colin Murphy expressed his frustration at the lack of cybersecurity action taken, despite his repeated warnings.

The state government has ordered an urgent review of the state's TAFE cyber security systems after hackers accessed the private details of 13,000 students at North Metropolitan TAFE.

Education minister Sue Ellery told Radio 6PR the breaches occurred on August 28 and September 5 when an unauthorised person gained access to the TAFE's IT system via remote access.

A cyber attack on one of Perth's TAFEs has exposed the state's poor cyber safety record.

The breaches come two months after the McGowan government announced a revised digital security policy aimed at addressing weaknesses in the security of public sector IT systems repeatedly identified by the state's Auditor General.

Ms Ellery said the hacker accessed staff and student details including names and addresses, some encrypted password files and internet protocol addresses.