Former AIS director Matt Favier suspects Australian sporting bodies could be open to cyber attacks and they need to be more diligent about security following revelations an Australian Sports Commission email account was hacked.
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Favier said Sport Australia had alerted them to the breach on Friday and they were currently undergoing a review into their protection protocols.
The ASC, which is the federal government agency comprising of Sport Australia and the AIS, were yet to determine the source of the breach when The Canberra Times broke the story on Friday.
There were concerns athletes' data could have been breached, but it's still unclear whether that's the case.
ASC chief executive Kate Palmer confirmed the attack and said they make further statements as more information came to light.
It's one of a number of cyber attacks in Australia this year, including a breach at Parliament House and a Russian group targeting the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority.
There's no suggestion the attacks are linked.
Favier was AIS director for five years, but is now Hockey Australia chief executive.
He said the world of cyber attacks was a new problem for sport, which meant their governing bodies might not be as secure as they needed to be.
Measures will need to be taken to ensure that changes.
"Most sports, it's not specifically the AIS, but every sport continually has to make sure their protocols around data are fit for purpose," Favier said.
"I suspect quite a few sports would be potentially open for that sort of [threat], or perhaps not as secure as they need to be or would like to be.
"Unfortunately it's the way things are working these days. We just need to be more diligent.
"From our perspective we're attempting to make sure we have suitable protocols and walls in place to protect our data."
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Favier said Hockey Australia hadn't ever been targeted and they just happened to be in the middle of a review of their cyber security protocols when they heard about the attack.
He said it was concerning there was the potential for athletes' personal data to be compromised.
Favier felt their private information and medical records were the most important things to keep confidential.
He said there were two potential reasons for hacking athletes' data - to get a competitive edge and financial gain.
"It is concerning. I don't think there at that many secrets, by the way," Favier said.
"I'd be more concerned around private information being out in the public domain, that's what I'd be mostly worried about.
"Particularly if there was any risk around any particular athlete's medical records, then that's the sort of thing that would be most concerning.
"I don't know to what extent it's for performance-related considerations as opposed to trying to use it for material gain."