Western Sydney University takes down student management system

Western Sydney University took down its student management system yesterday after observing "unusual activity", consistent with a possible cyber threat.

The type of unusual activity detected wasn't specified. It said the system takedown, while "swift", was precautionary to allow it to investigate the signals it had observed.

The university said in a statement to its 50,000 students that it had found “no evidence of information, including personal information, being accessed or compromised in any way."

It has since brought the system back online, iTnews confirmed with a university spokesperson.

“The university immediately took precautions, responding swiftly by taking the system offline to investigate,” WSU vice-chancellor and president Barney Glover said in the alert which has since been released in a public statement.

"Western Sydney University takes our digital security and the protection of our student and staff data incredibly seriously.

"Our success in taking preventative measures is testament to the university’s advancing cyber security detection and response capacity.

"This event is a timely reminder of how important it is to remain constantly alert and vigilant to cyber security threats."

Western Sydney University has an Ellucian Banner student management system, which replaced Callista in 2021.