Data breach at Columbia University affects nearly 870,000 people

Columbia University, one of the most prestigious universities in the United States, has been the target of a cyberattack that resulted in the theft of personal information from 868,969 individuals.

On June 24, 2025, the university suffered a service interruption that affected some of its computer systems. Days later, once the event was detected, the university launched an investigation with the support of external cybersecurity experts and reported the incident to the authorities. The investigation determined that, around May 16, 2025, an unauthorized third party gained access to Columbia's network and stole files from the system. At this time, no actor or threat group has claimed responsibility for the attack on Columbia University.

The university detected that the intruders obtained information about students and applicants, including files related to admissions, enrollment, and financial aid. Personal information was also obtained from some employees, including contact details, Social Security numbers, demographic information, academic records, financial aid information, insurance information, and health data.

Columbia University is notifying those affected and offering them two years of free credit monitoring, fraud counseling, and identity theft protection services.