Politically motivated cyberattack? 'Hacktivist' stole data of 2.5 mn Columbia University students, employees

More than two million people linked to Columbia University were attacked by a seasoned "hacktivist", who reportedly stole sensitive data from the students, applicants, and employees of the Ivy League University. The officials believe this cyberattack to be politically motivated.

This happened on June 24, when a digital activist knocked the Ivy League's systems offline for several hours, swiped social security numbers, citizenship status, university-issued ID numbers, application decisions, employee salaries, and other private records, according to a Bloomberg News report.

The extracted documents allegedly included 2.5 million applications, which were decades old, along with financial aid packages, the outlet reported.

Later, a university official told The New York Post that the sophisticated hacker appeared to target specific documents to advance their political agenda.

The alleged hacker, who declined to reveal their identity to The Post, said they targeted the Manhattan university to find documents indicating the use of affirmative action in admissions, which was banned by the Supreme Court last year.

Columbia University issued a statement, saying, "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."

It added that the university has initial indications that the unauthorised actor also unlawfully stole data from a limited portion of the network.

"We are investigating the scope of the apparent theft and will share our findings with the University community as well as anyone whose personal information was compromised," the university added in the statement.

The hacker said that they were able to break into Columbia’s classified information after they spent more than two months trying to gain access to the university's servers.

During the hacking, bizarre images appeared on the university's systems and locked students and faculty out of the systems for a brief period of time.

Moreover, on one dorm television on Columbia’s Morningside campus, an image of US President Donald Trump appeared, as per a photo obtained by the Columbia Spectator, the school’s student newspaper.

The Ivy League is probing the extent of the cyberattack and has restored most systems. Meanwhile, a process official said, “It will take time.”

“We know that this news may raise questions and concerns across our community about the scope of the affected personal information. Our team is working toward answers,” University leaders told students and faculty in an email obtained by The Post.

The officials said it identified the hacker’s tactics and signature, noting that they haven't detected any malicious activity.

This comes amid Columbia University facing a battle with the Trump administration about the $400 million in grants and contracts over the institution’s failure to stamp out antisemitism on campus.