AICD cans seminar to avoid cyber breach

The nation’s peak body for directors has apologised to its members after being forced to shut down an online cyber security seminar amid fears it had been infiltrated by hackers.

The Australian Institute of Company Directors cancelled its LinkedIn Live event this morning after users were bombarded by comments with URL links requesting credit card details.

The seminar was being held in support of the AICD and Cyber Security Co-operative Research Centre cyber governance principles and was set to be attended by about 4,800 people.

It is understood 2,500 were on the platform when the unusual activity began.

In a statement released this afternoon, the AICD confirmed the links posted were not genuine and that the organisation’s information, systems and network had not been compromised.

While it said it did not yet know whether participants had entered their details, the AICD confirmed it had contacted the relevant authorities and was working with its service providers and LinkedIn to understand the technical issue.

AICD managing director Mark Rigotti apologised for the disruption, acknowledging the incident fell well short of the standards its 50,000-strong membership base expected.

“The AICD apologises sincerely for the unacceptable issues with the LinkedIn Live event,” he said.

“We recognise this experience has fallen well below the high standards our members rightly expect of the AICD.”

The incident comes just weeks after breaches affecting Medibank and Optus placed a renewed focus on cyber security.