Princeton University hit by cyberattack; alumni and donor data leaked
What's the story
Princeton University has confirmed a data breach that compromised a database containing information about its alumni, donors, students and other members of the community. The incident took place on November 10 and involved a database managed by the university's advancement office. According to Bloomberg, the university detected the breach and removed the attackers within 24 hours.
Database details
Details of the compromised database and attack method
The compromised database contained personal information such as names, contact details, and records of fundraising activities and donations. The breach was initiated by a phone phishing attempt on a university employee with access to this advancement database. However, Princeton has said that it has no concrete evidence linking this incident to other breaches.
Cyber threat
Rising trend of cyberattacks on US universities
The data breach at Princeton is part of a growing trend of cyberattacks targeting US universities. In recent months, several top educational institutions have reported similar incidents affecting students, alumni and donors. The University of Pennsylvania suffered a major cybersecurity breach last month, with attackers accessing systems linked to alumni and donor records. Columbia University also reported a breach in May 2025 when unauthorized actors accessed its network and obtained files containing personal and academic information of over 868,000 individuals.