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The Australian National University (ANU) said
it had only discovered the breach two weeks ago and that it was
carried out by "a sophisticated operator", without elaborating.
An earlier cyber attack, disclosed by ANU in July last year, had
failed to gather sensitive information. Media reports at that
time had cited sources as saying the hacking originated in
China.
According to World University Rankings, ANU is Australia's best
university and many of its graduates go on to hold senior
government positions, magnifying security sensitivities over the
data breach.
"National community agencies are recruiting directly out of ANU,"
said Fergus Hanson, head of the International Cyber Policy
Centre at think-tank the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
"To have information around particular people who are working in
different departments... that would be very useful."
Australia's cyber intelligence agency said it was investigating
who was behind the attack.
"It does appear to be the work of a sophisticated actor," a
representative of the Australian Signals Directorate said in an
emailed statement.
"It is too early to speculate about connections to other
compromises."
China has consistently denied being involved in any hacking
attacks and its embassy in Australia did not respond to a
request from Reuters for comment.
Despite Chinese denials, Australia has cited similar incidents
as evidence that China is meddling in its domestic affairs,
straining ties between the two countries.
(Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Nick Macfie)
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