The New South Wales Department of Education announced today that it has been the victim of a cybersecurity attack. After taking parts of its systems offline in response to the hacking attempt, the state's Department of Education is now combining forces to bring them back online in time for the start of the school term.

As NSW Education Secretary Georgina Harrison said in a statement, the timing of the attack could not have been worse. By working with Cyber Security NSW, it is hoped that normal access will be resumed quickly before everything is reopened.

While the Department's initial response to isolate the problem appears to have been successful, this type of attack is likely to increase in the future. As our world becomes increasingly reliant on technology and the Web, cybercriminals are becoming more sophisticated and determined by the day. There is currently no accurate information on what data they were targeting and how much of it ended up in the hands of the attackers.

Harrison points out that the safety and security of student and staff data is, of course, their top priority. As such, they are seeking a quick solution and have notified the police and federal agencies.

It is sad that hackers target the weak among us, and another reason why we must keep our cybersecurity knowledge up to date. In other words, they need to think about our children.