Cyber Incident Victim: The Young Illustrator Award site administered by Meridian Secondary School
Date:
Aug 2017
Location:
Singapore
Summary
A website hosting an art competition for students, administered by Meridian Secondary School, was compromised by hackers, prompting a police report and the site's takedown. The school notified registrants to reset passwords and report suspicious activity, confirming no other systems were breached as the platform operated independently. Preliminary investigations indicated the incident was contained without compromising personally identifiable data. The competition submission deadline was extended, with entries redirected via email. Authorities collaborated to address the breach, which occurred shortly before the event's original conclusion.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 4 motives | 3 techniques |
| Threat Actors | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 0 actors | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On August 29, 2017, hackers breached the Young Illustrator Award website administered by Meridian Secondary School, an online platform hosting an art competition open to all primary and secondary school students in Singapore. The school was alerted to the intrusion on August 30 by the vendor managing the website, one day before the competition’s original submission deadline. Meridian Secondary immediately took down the compromised site and filed a police report. The school notified all registrants via direct communication, instructing them to change their passwords and report any suspicious activities. Authorities confirmed the website operated as a standalone system, with no evidence of compromise to other school or Ministry of Education (MOE) networks.
The Ministry of Education’s preliminary investigation determined the breach was "fairly contained" and that no personally identifiable data had been exposed. Competition participants were redirected to submit entries via email, as announced on the Young Illustrator Awards’ Facebook page, with the deadline extended to September 8. MOE emphasized compliance with government IT security policies, including vendor security requirements and staff training programs on data protection. The incident occurred amid heightened cybersecurity threats to Singaporean educational institutions, following attacks on National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University earlier that year. Meridian Secondary continued coordinating with authorities to resolve the breach while maintaining the competition’s revised submission process.