Monash mops up after malicious attack

David Swan
Monday, 18 April 2011 12:40

Business IT - Security

Monash University has become the victim of an international attack, albeit one of an online nature, after its website was hacked and replaced with an Iranian flag.

The attack, which occurred on Saturday, replaced the home page of Monash University with an Iranian flag and the text 'hacked by yaser007'.

 

In a statement emailed to Fairfax, Monash University Chief Information Officer Ian Tebbett said the site "was subject to an external hacker breach on Saturday" but that "the situation was quickly identified and dealt with".

Monash Peninsula Student Union President James Coutie expressed concern about the University's lack of security.

'Well, I'm amazed it could happen and hope Monash will follow Sydney's lead and boost their security,' he said.

Earlier this year, a computer hacker nicknamed "Evil" similarly hacked the University of Sydney's website.

The University of Sydney reportedly hired two internet security firms after the incident in order to prevent future attacks from occurring.

It is unclear whether Monash will follow a similar route.

In some positive news, Tebbett said that no secure university data had been compromised and that the effects were "limited to the publishing of non-Monash material on the externally-facing website".

Monash's own investigations of the matter were "ongoing", he said.