Victorian Year 12 exams plunged into chaos after hacker 'leaks' papers to students

Victoria’s embattled exam authority is in crisis again after a hacker claimed to have leaked Year 12 papers and mocked their “dogs**t” security.

Year 12 students were left reeling after a “scumbag” hacker hijacked the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority’s systems and fabricated claims they leaked the tests to hundreds of their peers.

On Wednesday, a cybercriminal by the name of DaggerElite breached the exam authority website 5.50pm and posted a lengthy “thank you” note acknowledging a group of pupils who supposedly purchased tests from him.

This story is developing. For updates download our new app

A VCAA spokesman has since reassured students on Thursday morning the allegations were “fake”.

“Wassup f**kers … I’m here to say thank you to a much bigger group of people — those who purchased an official VCA (sic) 2026 exam from me ahead of the exam day this year,” the hacker posted on the VCAA website.

“Thanks to the support of these awesome hundreds of students statewide, we will hopefully be able to prepare the exam pages to be sent out even earlier than we managed to this year, so you can study the paper you will sit in 2027 well in advance.”

The hacker also gave a nod to the VCAA, labelling its security standards “dogsh*t”, which allowed them to “map out this sh*tshow site and learn all its internals”.

“ANOTHER thank you to their select External Printing Providers for their (more so) sh*t security policies allowing me to log-in to those systems and download a copy of the 2026 Exam papers from the internal file servers,” the message said.

“And finally THANK YOU to GoAhead Lawyers for f**king up email security on their website, therefore allowing me to send everyone who purchased an exam this year an anonymous message under their name.

“The success of this campaign could not have been possible without all their help together.”

The hacker concluded their unsettling post by warning those who have the papers not to them on , as they have embedded a unique buyer identification code into the document for each person who purchased a copy.

“I would like to remind you that those holding a paper are very well aware that each sent copy is individualised with an identifiable signature embedded in it and it’s in their best interest to keep their papers to themselves,” it said.

The note was quickly removed once the VCAA realised it was on the platform, with the website remaining under ongoing maintenance on Thursday morning.

“We apologise for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience,” the notice read.

Have you been impacted? Get in touch – [email protected]

An ‘exploitation of anxious students’

The VCAA were quick to reassure the message was a hoax and the claims were fabricated.

“There is no evidence at all that any VCE exams have been accessed or leaked,” a spokesman said.

“These are false claims designed for financial gain from the exploitation of anxious students.

“For obvious reasons, the VCAA does not reveal or on specific security process used to protect the integrity of VCE exams.”

The incident occurred in the final weeks of the Victorian Year 12 exam period, with students unable to check their timetables for Thursday’s assessments, which included physics.

Students took to social media in outrage, with one pupil slamming the hacker as a “bumf**k loser”.

“How f**king dare you do this on physics eve. I hope VCAA has ur (sic) head and hangs it up,” they said.

“Imagine f**king over hardworking students just to try and sell some exam.”

VCAA chief executive Andrew Smith acknowledged the homepage was the subject of “vandalism” on Wednesday.

“An initial investigation has shown no evidence that any sensitive data or exam papers have been accessed,” he said.

“The VCE exams will continue as normal.”

The VCAA website does not contain sensitive student data and the authority does not store the exams on its website.

Meanwhile its external printing providers have stringent security measures to safeguard against the possibility of cyber breaches.

News.com.au understands these providers have confirmed they acted in accordance with the VCAA’s requirements for exam security and they can find no evidence of unauthorised access to 2026 VCE exams.

This incident has been reported to Victoria Police and news.com.au has reached out for .

Two blunders in three years

Meanwhile the law firm named in the attack told news.com.au it has found “no evidence of unauthorised access to Go Ahead Lawyers' email systems”.

“Our current assessment is that a third party may have spoofed our email address to make the messages appear as though they came from our firm,” it said in a statement.

“We have yet to establish how this occurred or why our domain was used. Go Ahead Lawyers had no involvement in the reported activity and did not send or authorise the messages in question.

“We have taken steps to strengthen our email security and reduce the risk of future spoofing.”

It’s the second incident to rock the embattled authority in three years, with the 2024 exams also thrown into chaos after questions were inadvertently leaked on cover note pages for 65 subjects.

Following that incident, the former chief executive resigned, and the entire board was sacked, with then Education Minister Ben Carroll – now Premier – ordering a root-and-branch review into the ordeal.

News.com.au has reached out to Education Minister Gabrielle Williams and the Department of Education for .

However, it is unlikely they will provide a while the government is in caretaker mode.