Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
AAP
AAP
Technology
Ethan James

Extra support for violence survivors after data hack

The Tasmanian government is offering support to family violence victims impacted by a data breach. (Dave Hunt/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

Family violence survivors caught up in a cyber hack in which 16,000 Tasmanian education department documents were made public have been offered additional support.

The department for education, children and young people on Monday sent more than 145,000 emails to stakeholders and people potentially impacted by the release of financial statements and invoices on the dark web last week.

The documents include personal information such as names and addresses and were gained through a hack on third-party file transfer service GoAnywhere MFT.

Tasmania Police's Safe Families Coordination Unit has contacted affected victims of family violence and offered additional support should they have risk or safety concerns as a result of the data breach.

"Work continues to identify any victims who may be vulnerable," a spokesman from the department of premier and cabinet said on Thursday.

The state government has promised to review cyber security arrangements once the immediate response to the attack is over.

"There is still more to go. As (Minister for Science and Technology Madeleine Ogilvie) said, we're not out of the woods yet," Liberal minister Felix Ellis told reporters.

"It's obviously an ongoing situation and Tasmanians should be alert to that."

The state Labor opposition is concerned the government failed to destroy or de-identify personal information no longer being used, as required under relevant legislation.

A man who has spoken to media about having his data compromised said he last engaged with the education department in 2015.

"There are Tasmanians whose information and data has been compromised which should have been destroyed," Labor MP Jen Butler said.

More than 1200 former department employees were among the 145,683 stakeholders contacted.

The breach may include data belonging to people from the Office of the Education Registrar, Teachers Registration Board, Office of the Tasmanian Assessment, Standards and Certification, TasTAFE and the Commissioner for Children and Young People.

The hackers have not made any ransom demands, while the state government has set up a call centre for people with concerns.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.