Columbia University hit by 'hacktivist,' 2.5M records stolen in cyberattack
What's the story
A major cyberattack compromised the personal data of over 2.5 million students, applicants, and employees at Columbia University. The breach occurred on June 24 and is believed to have been carried out by a politically motivated hacker or "hacktivist." The attacker managed to take down the university's systems for several hours and accessed highly sensitive information such as Social Security numbers, university ID numbers, citizenship status, admissions decisions, and employee salaries.
Motive revealed
Investigation is underway
A university official told The New York Post that the hacker appeared to target specific documents to advance their political agenda. Columbia University has launched an investigation into the incident and is working with cybersecurity experts to assess its full impact and prevent future breaches. "We immediately began an investigation with the assistance of leading cybersecurity experts and, after substantial analysis, determined that the outage was caused by an unauthorized party," Columbia said in a statement.
Admission confessed
Hacker has claimed responsibility
The individual behind the massive data breach at Columbia University has claimed responsibility in an anonymous message to Bloomberg News. The hacker, who remained anonymous, said their motive was to find documents indicating the use of affirmative action in admissions, a practice recently banned by the Supreme Court. The stolen data, totaling 1.6GB, reportedly includes 2.5 million applications dating back decades and sensitive information about financial aid packages.
Security assurance
University assures no threat actor activity detected in network
Columbia University has assured that it hasn't detected any threat actor activity on its network since June 24. The institution will continue to monitor closely for further unlawful activity in its systems. Despite the massive data breach, officials have confirmed that the Irving Medical Center remains unaffected by this incident.
Ongoing conflict
Cyberattack amid battle with Trump administration
The cyberattack on Columbia University comes amid its ongoing battle with the Trump administration. The latter had pulled about $400 million in grants and contracts over the institution's failure to curb antisemitism on campus. Despite these challenges, Columbia University continues to work toward securing its systems and protecting student data from future threats.