By Staff Writer
A cybersecurity warning has been issued to anyone with a mySA GOV account.
The South Australian Department for Infrastructure and Transport has contacted customers whose accounts have been impacted by a cyberattack linked to the hacking of an unrelated website.
The state government says it has taken immediate steps to secure any affected accounts.
On Tuesday 2nd November, the Department became aware that the accounts of some customers had been accessed by a third party who used passwords obtained in the hacking of a separate, unrelated website.
The accounts were able to be accessed because account holders had used the same or a similar password for their mySA GOV account as they had used for their account with the unrelated website. The hackers then used the passwords they had obtained from the unrelated website to access a number of mySA GOV accounts.
The Department says while there is no evidence of any unauthorised transactions on any mySA GOV accounts, it has quickly taken the following steps to mitigate the risk:
- The current passwords of affected accounts have been blocked.
- All affected customers have been notified by email of the potential unauthorised access to their account, with instructions provided on how to change their password and regain access to their mySA GOV account.
- As details could have been accessed by an unauthorised third party, the Department is encouraging all affected customers to change their driver’s licence number by attending a Service SA Centre.
Affected customers have received more information about how to do this.
It is strongly recommended that when choosing a new password for their account, customers do not use a password that has been previously used or is currently being used for any other accounts.
This is timely reminder to every web user to always set complex passwords and do not use the same password for more than one account.
Any mySA GOV users who may have concerns about their account or need more information can visit the Service SA website at service.sa.gov.au.
