"Since 2021, Western Sydney University experienced a series of cyber hacks involving unauthorized access, data exfiltration, system compromise, and misuse of university infrastructure – including threatening the sale of student information on the dark web," reads the NSW Police press release. Based on the same reports, the hacker stole over 100GB of confidential data from WSU systems over the years, altered academic results, secured discounted parking at the University, threatened to sell stolen student data on darknet forums, and demanded a ransom payment in cryptocurrency worth $40,000. Specifically, the woman, identified by local media reports as Birdie Kingston, is accused of unauthorized access, data theft, and compromising university infrastructure since 2021, affecting hundreds of staff and students. New South Wales police in Australia have arrested a 27-year-old former Western Sydney University (WSU) student for allegedly hacking into the University's systems on multiple occasions, starting with a scheme to obtain cheaper parking. Australian media claim that the police officially warned Kingston in September 2023, when she lived on the WSU campus, but she reportedly wasn't deterred and continued her hacking activities against the University. Bill Toulas Bill Toulas is a tech writer and infosec news reporter with over a decade of experience working on various online publications, covering open-source, Linux, malware, data breach incidents, and hacks.
This Cyber News was published on www.bleepingcomputer.com. Publication date: Thu, 26 Jun 2025 16:25:15 +0000