Australian National University is Melbourne’s top university and its graduates hold senior positions in the government. Hackers were able to gain access to bank account numbers as well as passport details.

On Tuesday, one of Australia’s top-ranked university the Australian National University (ANU) stated hackers had breached its cyber defenses in late 2018 and had gained access to sensitive data, including students’ bank account numbers and passport details going back nineteen years.

According to a statement by ANU, it discovered the breach just two weeks ago; it opined that the attack was carried out by “a sophisticated operator” without elaborating any further.

In July 2018, in an earlier attack on ANU media reports had cited sources saying that the hacking attack had originated from China.

As per World University Rankings, ANU is Australia’s best university and many of its graduates go on to hold senior positions in the government. This factor alone magnifies the security aspect of the latest data breach.

“National community agencies are recruiting directly out of ANU,” said Fergus Hanson, head of the International Cyber Policy Centre at think-tank the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. “To have information around particular people who are working in different departments… that would be very useful.”

As per a statement by Australia’s cyber intelligence agency, it is investigating the breach.

“It does appear to be the work of a sophisticated actor,” said a representative of the Australian Signals Directorate. “It is too early to speculate about connections to other compromises.”

The development comes midst increase incidence of China trying to meddle in Australia’s domestic affairs which in the past has strained ties between the two countries.