The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is aware of a cyber incident impacting Western Sydney University.
The University’s investigation into the cyber incident has found the personal details of a number of their former and current students and staff were compromised, including Australian passport numbers and copies of Australian and foreign passports.
The University is contacting impacted individuals directly and continues to investigate the matter to determine the full extent of the cyber-attack.
Affected Australian passports are still safe to use for international travel. Your passport number cannot be used to obtain a new passport. Robust controls are used to protect passports from identity takeover, including sophisticated facial-recognition technology.
See our page on protecting against scams and identity theft for more advice on how to safeguard your personal information.
You can also seek help from IDCARE, a not-for-profit organisation that specialises in providing advice and support to Australians on how to respond to identity theft.
More advice on what you can do to protect yourself and your family from cyber security incidents is available on the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s (ACSC) webpage at: www.cyber.gov.au.
If you’re a foreign passport holder whose personal details have been compromised, you should contact the government that issued your passport for further advice what to do. Please refer to DFAT’s list of foreign government representatives based in Australia.
