Bookeasy hack exposes ACT campers' data, booking site shut down

Bookeasy, the third-party platform behind the National Parks booking system, confirmed it is investigating a cyber incident that may have exposed customers' personal and booking information. The company said it has found no evidence that credit card details were accessed. It said a security alert triggered immediate containment action, including bringing in outside cyber experts to investigate and advise.

The ACT government has switched the portal off while it works out the damage. Bren Berkevics, executive group manager at the territory's Environment and Parks department, said Bookeasy notified the government of the incident and the possible unauthorised release of information. He said suspending the website was a precaution. Campers can still book directly through the parks government website.

The platform stores a wide sweep of personal data, from email addresses to home addresses and phone numbers. Around 6,000 users have been emailed by the ACT government warning them that scam and phishing attempts may follow. Berkevics said some Canberran campers had already received suspicious messages through email and WhatsApp.

He urged extreme caution. Bookeasy said its investigation is ongoing and personal and booking information may have been compromised. The breach lands in a rough week for park booking systems nationally, with Queensland, Victoria and South Australia also hit.

Berkevics pointed campers to scamwatch.gov.au and told them not to click links or hand sensitive details to third-party apps, credit card information especially. Bookeasy said that so far, financial data has stayed clean.