Latest news with #hacktivism
Globe and Mail
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
Columbia students' personal data stolen by politically motivated hacker, university says
A politically motivated hacker breached Columbia University's data systems last week, stealing troves of student documents while briefly shutting down the school's computer systems, a university official said. The June 24 cyberattack prompted widespread network outages on campus, locking students and staff out of their e-mail accounts, coursework and video conference software for several hours. On the same day, images of President Donald Trump's smiling face appeared on several public monitors across the Manhattan campus. A spokesperson for Columbia declined to elaborate on the political motivations behind the attack. But they described a highly sophisticated 'hacktivist' who had gained access to private student records in an attempt to further a political agenda. The spokesperson said it was unclear if the Trump photo display was connected to the data breach. '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 school said. The cyberattack comes as Columbia remains in the crosshairs of the Trump administration, which has threatened to pull $400 million in federal funds over what it claims is the school's failure to protect Jewish students. Negotiations over a possible settlement are ongoing. The university has already agreed to a host of changes demanded by Trump, including placing its Middle East studies department under new supervision and overhauling its rules for protests and student discipline. In March, a cyberattack against New York University resulted in student admission records briefly appearing on the school's website. An online hacker who took credit for that action on social media said the intent was to prove the university was not in compliance with the Supreme Court decision banning affirmative action in college admissions. An NYU spokesperson said at the time that the data displayed on its webpage was 'inaccurate and misleading,' adding that the university 'scrupulously complies with the law.'
Al Arabiya
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Columbia Student Data Stolen by Politically Motivated Hacker, University Says
A politically motivated hacker breached Columbia University's data systems last week, stealing troves of student documents while briefly shutting down the school's computer systems, a university official said. The June 24 cyberattack prompted widespread network outages on campus, locking students and staff out of their email accounts, coursework, and video conference software for several hours. On the same day, images of President Donald Trump's smiling face appeared on several public monitors across the Manhattan campus. A spokesperson for Columbia declined to elaborate on the political motivations behind the attack. But they described a highly sophisticated hacktivist who had gained access to private student records in an attempt to further a political agenda. The spokesperson said it was unclear if the Trump photo display was connected to the data breach. '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 school said. The cyberattack comes as Columbia remains in the crosshairs of the Trump administration, which has threatened to pull $400 million in federal funds over what it claims is the school's failure to protect Jewish students. Negotiations over a possible settlement are ongoing. The university has already agreed to a host of changes demanded by Trump, including placing its Middle East studies department under new supervision and overhauling its rules for protests and student discipline. In March, a cyberattack against New York University resulted in student admission records briefly appearing on the school's website. An online hacker who took credit for that action on social media said the intent was to prove the university was not in compliance with the Supreme Court decision banning affirmative action in college admissions. An NYU spokesperson said at the time that the data displayed on its webpage was inaccurate and misleading, adding that the university 'scrupulously complies with the law.'
Associated Press
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Columbia student data stolen by politically motivated hacker, university says
NEW YORK (AP) — A politically motivated hacker breached Columbia University's data systems last week, stealing troves of student documents while briefly shutting down the school's computer systems, a university official said. The June 24 cyberattack prompted widespread network outages on campus, locking students and staff out of their email accounts, coursework and video conference software for several hours. On the same day, images of President Donald Trump's smiling face appeared on several public monitors across the Manhattan campus. A spokesperson for Columbia declined to elaborate on the political motivations behind the attack. But they described a highly sophisticated 'hacktivist' who had gained access to private student records in an attempt to further a political agenda. The spokesperson said it was unclear if the Trump photo display was connected to the data breach. '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 school said. The cyberattack comes as Columbia remains in the crosshairs of the Trump administration, which has threatened to pull $400 million in federal funds over what it claims is the school's failure to protect Jewish students. Negotiations over a possible settlement are ongoing. The university has already agreed to a host of changes demanded by Trump, including placing its Middle East studies department under new supervision and overhauling its rules for protests and student discipline. In March, a cyberattack against New York University resulted in student admission records briefly appearing on the school's website. An online hacker who took credit for that action on social media said the intent was to prove the university was not in compliance with the Supreme Court decision banning affirmative action in college admissions. An NYU spokesperson said at the time that the data displayed on its webpage was 'inaccurate and misleading,' adding that the university 'scrupulously complies with the law.'
The Independent
02-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Columbia student data stolen by politically motivated hacker, university says
A politically motivated hacker breached Columbia University's data systems last week, stealing troves of student documents while briefly shutting down the school's computer systems, a university official said. The June 24 cyberattack prompted widespread network outages on campus, locking students and staff out of their email accounts, coursework and video conference software for several hours. On the same day, images of President Donald Trump's smiling face appeared on several public monitors across the Manhattan campus. A spokesperson for Columbia declined to elaborate on the political motivations behind the attack. But they described a highly sophisticated 'hacktivist' who had gained access to private student records in an attempt to further a political agenda. The spokesperson said it was unclear if the Trump photo display was connected to the data breach. '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 school said. The cyberattack comes as Columbia remains in the crosshairs of the Trump administration, which has threatened to pull $400 million in federal funds over what it claims is the school's failure to protect Jewish students. Negotiations over a possible settlement are ongoing. The university has already agreed to a host of changes demanded by Trump, including placing its Middle East studies department under new supervision and overhauling its rules for protests and student discipline. In March, a cyberattack against New York University resulted in student admission records briefly appearing on the school's website. An online hacker who took credit for that action on social media said the intent was to prove the university was not in compliance with the Supreme Court decision banning affirmative action in college admissions. An NYU spokesperson said at the time that the data displayed on its webpage was 'inaccurate and misleading," adding that the university 'scrupulously complies with the law.'
New York Times
01-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Columbia Cyberattack Appears Politically Motivated, University Says
The cyberattack that caused a widespread shutdown of Columbia University's computer systems last week appears to be the work of a 'hacktivist' — a hacker who also stole student data with the apparent goal of furthering a political agenda, a Columbia official said on Tuesday. During the outage, which began on June 24, a smiling image of President Trump appeared on some computer screens at the university, including on public monitors in the student center. The Columbia official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, did not provide a motivation for the attack. But Bloomberg News, which received messages from the apparent hacker, said that the person described stealing student data in order to see if Columbia was using affirmative action in its admission policies, a practice the Supreme Court effectively barred in 2023. A cyber-forensics firm hired by the university reported that the hack appeared to be highly sophisticated and targeted in its theft of documents, the official said. The official added that Columbia had not yet determined the scope of the data theft and that it could take weeks to months to do so. Columbia's websites and internal systems, however, which went down during the attack, were up and running again within a week. The person who communicated with Bloomberg News provided it with 1.6 gigabytes of data representing 2.5 million student applications to Columbia dating back decades. The data included students' and applicants' university-issued identification numbers, their citizenship status, the decisions made on their applications and the academic programs to which they applied, among other information. Bloomberg reported that it was able to confirm the accuracy of the data for eight Columbia students and alumni who applied to the university between 2019 and 2024. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
