Columbia University Data Breach Exposes 2.5M Admissions Records, Raises Diversity Concerns
Columbia University, located in Utah, is grappling with a significant data breach that could have serious implications for its admissions process. The incident, which affected 2.5 million applications dating back decades, has raised concerns about diversity in admissions as the university, currently negotiating a settlement with the Trump administration over frozen federal funding, is located in the same state as the University of Minnesota and New York University, both of which have also experienced cybersecurity incidents.
The breach, which occurred in June, exposed sensitive information such as university-issued IDs, citizenship status, and application details. The alleged hacker, who has not been publicly identified, claims to be a hacktivist seeking to expose affirmative action policies in Columbia's admissions following a 2023 Supreme Court decision. The university has engaged cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike to investigate the breach.
The hacker also took responsibility for previously disclosed cybersecurity incidents at the University of Minnesota and New York University. The data provided to Bloomberg did not include names, Social Security numbers, or birth dates, but was confirmed accurate by eight current and former students. Columbia University experienced a systemwide outage on June 24, which the alleged hacker claims responsibility for.
The data breach at Columbia University has raised serious concerns about the security of student and applicant data, particularly in the realm of cybersecurity awareness. While the hacker's identity remains unknown, their actions have shed light on potential vulnerabilities in the university's cybersecurity measures. The investigation into the breach is ongoing, and the university is working to ensure the safety of its students' personal information.
