Camping, sightseeing booking portal disabled while data breach investigated

In short:

Some Canberrans have reported "suspicious messages" after a cybersecurity breach of a booking portal the government uses for campgrounds.

The platform, Bookeasy, says that so far it believes only personal details and no credit card details have been compromised.

What's next?

The ACT government has temporarily disabled the platform, but people can still book sites directly.

The ACT government is stressing vigilance after a cybersecurity breach of a booking platform for campgrounds in territory parks and reserves, along with other Australian states.

The third-party platform, Bookeasy, processes bookings and permits for the National Parks booking system, storing personal data from emails to addresses and phone numbers.

It comes as systems in Queensland, Victoria and South Australia were hacked this week. 

In a statement, Bookeasy said it was continuing to investigate, and so far had identified potential compromising of customers' personal and booking information.

"Following a security alert, we were able to take immediate containment action. This included engaging cyber experts to assist with our investigation and provide advice," Bookeasy said.

It said it had not detected any access to credit card details.

The ACT government said it has emailed around 6,000 users, warning them of attempts to scam or phish in the wake of the breach.

Platform suspended

The territory government's Environment and Parks department said some Canberran campers had received "suspicious messages via email of WhatsApp applications".

"We urge extreme caution and to consider that there is a risk of being scammed," the department's executive group manager Bren Berkevics said.

Mr Berkevics said the government has temporarily disabled the platform while it assessed the fallout.

"Bookeasy has notified the ACT government that they have incurred a cyber incident and potentially the unauthorised release of information," he said.

"So in the abundance of caution, the ACT government has suspended the use of that website."

Mr Berkevics said people could make bookings directly via the parks government website.  

"The usual message is that avoiding scams is critical in these times," he said.

"Further information is available from scamwatch.gov.au, but avoid clicking on links and providing sensitive information, particularly credit card information, to third-party applications."