Warning for VCE students after hacker’s claim that exams are available for purchase online

Detailed summary

Several schools have urged their students not to access unauthorised VCE exam papers after a hack that unfolded on the exam authority’s website on Wednesday night.

Students have been warned not to access unauthorised VCE exam papers after a hacker infiltrated the exam authority’s website and claimed tests had been made available for purchase online.

The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) website remained offline on Thursday at midday after being taken down on Wednesday following the hack about 6pm.

Using the alias “DaggerElite”, someone claimed to have accessed the VCAA site and its external printing providers, downloading VCE exams and selling them to “hundreds of students statewide”.

The VCAA has advised there is no evidence that its exams had been illegally downloaded and sold, following its initial investigations overnight.

St Kevin’s College, an all-boys school in Toorak, was among those that wrote to students, warning them not to “engage with any entity claiming to have access to examination content”.

“In the same way, do not open, download, or share any messages that claim to be related to this matter,” the letter from school leadership read.

“Under no circumstances should students share personal information with anyone claiming to sell VCE examinations.”

St Kevin’s told students that VCAA chief executive officer Andrew Smith had contacted all schools to advise there was no evidence “any sensitive data or examination papers have been compromised”.

The hack follows several years of embarrassing bungles for the VCAA, including a “root and branch” inquiry after exam questions were unintentionally published online.

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