Two websites for the BC government’s student aid programs were temporarily taken down after they were allegedly compromised by hackers.
Last week, the province’s Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training said that it shut down the websites for StudentAid BC and LearnLive BC after both appeared to be hacked.
While neither StudentAid BC nor LearnLive BC provided any details on why they were shut down, some individuals on social media shared pictures of how the websites looked like during the attack. The images show a black screen, with a green logo that says “Guardian Security Team.” A phrase beneath the logo reads, “Mess with the best, die like the rest.”
CTV News reported that a Google search for StudentAid BC showed the site name appearing as “Hacked by RT3N.”
Both StudentAid and LearnLive offer application assistance or details about scholarships, grants, bursaries, loans, and other similar financial programs for post-secondary students.
The Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training announced that both websites have since been restored as of May 06, 2021. It also said that it is investigating the issue together with the Office of the Chief Information Officer, CBC News reported.
Notably, the ministry also announced that it is not aware that any students’ personal information has been compromised.
