A politically motivated hacker gained unauthorized access to Columbia University’s network and stole the data of an undisclosed number of users, university officials announced this week.
The warning followed a major technical outage starting on June 24, which affected the network ID authentication service that students and faculty use to access school platforms — including university emails and online coursework, Columbia Daily Spectator reported. During the outage, several school monitors flashed a portrait of President Trump, according to a photo obtained by the student newspaper.
Columbia tapped a cybersecurity firm for an investigation and notified law enforcement, including the FBI.
“While the investigation is ongoing, we have, after substantial analysis, determined that the outage was caused by an unauthorized party with the apparent intent to disrupt our systems,” read a statement from Columbia on Wednesday. “We also have initial indications that the unauthorized party stole data from our network.”
“We are diligently investigating the scope of the apparent theft.”
Columbia did not share a motive for the attack. However, a person claiming to be the hacker told Bloomberg News on Tuesday that the hack’s goal was to probe if the school had continued race-based admissions after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in 2023. (The university has insisted its admissions process complies with the court decision.)
Officials said there has been no further unauthorized access to its network since June 24, but that the school has since increased its cybersecurity measures and would continue to monitor the situation.
While Columbia’s email and remote coursework platforms were quick to restore access, other systems, such as the school’s registration portal and printing service, remained offline for days, the Spectator reported. Columbia’s medical center and its related health records were not compromised in the breach, according to the official school statement.
Students have been caught in the crossfire since the Trump administration revoked $400 million in federal funding from Columbia before a federal investigation found the school had not done enough to protect Jewish students from harassment. The government has also, based on the Supreme Court ruling, threatened to cancel grants to schools engaged in “diversity, equity and inclusion” practices.
With News Wire Services
