Data Breach Update 2019
International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) Australasia Limited has been the subject of a malicious access incident (or in layman’s terms a hack).
Part of the IAP2 Australasia internet-facing system (online system) has been accessed which has resulted in a data breach occurring between 30 December 2018 and 14 February 2019. We understand this breach affects a number of customers and members, all of whom have now been notified. (You can read more about this in our original notice here.)
Emails sent to the email address training@iap2.org.au between the dates 30 December 2018 and 14 February 2019 were forwarded to an unidentifiable email recipient.
It is our understanding that it is likely the information in the emails, including any attachments, has been available to the unknown recipient since the date the email was sent and may have been accessed.
Immediately upon confirming a malicious access had occurred, our management team took urgent steps to:
- Ensure that the specific part of the online system involved was made safe
- Engaged experts to ensure that IAP2 Australasia has appropriate protection in place across the whole of our online system
- Implemented a Data Breach Response Plan
- Engaged additional resources to undertake an audit of the breach to ensure all affected emails were identified and assessed for sensitive data
- Identified affected customers and members and communicated details of the breach to them.
All IAP2A customers and members affected have received a notice of the data breach from IAP2 Australasia. We want to assure all customers and members that we take your privacy very seriously.
The IAP2 management team will continue to investigate the situation and keep members and customers affected up to date of any material developments.
On behalf of the IAP2 Australasia Board and Management, I offer my sincere apologies for this incident and would like to assure members that we are working hard to not only correct this, but to prevent it from happening again.
I would like to also take this opportunity to commend the IAP2 Australasia management team for their swift action, thorough investigation and comprehensive response to this data breach.
For more information, contact Marion Short, Chief Executive Officer on either of the toll free numbers below.
Donna Marshall
Chair, IAP2 Australasia
AU: 1300 4ENGAGE (4364 243) | NZ: 0800 4ENGAGE (4364 243)