Hacked Columbia University Data Includes Banking Numbers, GPAs

(Bloomberg) – According to some data of some data of Bloomberg News, the financial information and academic performance of Columbia University students and graduates were stolen.

Data include bank account and routing numbers, student loans and scholarship payments, standard test scores, classroom averages, classroom programs, home addresses and other contact information, and the Bloomberg review of the stolen files. In the early 1990s, Columbia confirmed the accuracy of nine -existing and old student files that started to participate in undergraduate and graduate programs. Bloomberg could not confirm the entire cache.

New details about the data that has not been reported before provide another headache to a university that tries to reclaim its foundation after the battle of bruising in its allegations that it encourages Trump administration and anti -Semitism and has been discriminated against on the basis of race and national origin.

In response to questions from Bloomberg, a Columbia spokesman said that the investigation into the cyber attack – including the characteristics of the information that is exposed – continued. Sözcü, the university’s applicant and student data is in danger, he said.

The spokesman told people that Columbia will start notification this week to those who are believed to be affected by the attack, and that the school encourages the school “all members of the university community” to remain awake against frauds and regularly monitor for suspicious activities.

In June, Columbia began to investigate a potential cyber attack after the IT cut at the school. A university official described the perpetrator of the violation as a “hacktivist ,, that is to say that the attacker was politically motivated instead of looking for financial gain.

Last month, Bloomberg reported that the personal information to Columbia, including whether the applications have been accepted or rejected by the school for decades of applications, was stolen after examining 1.6 Gigabayt data provided by a person who demanded responsibility for a cyber attack.

A separate 53.6-Gigabayt Cache, which was revised by Bloomberg, was presented by Jordan Lasker, who runs a blog supporting views on the race and IQ, aggressive and scientifically criticized. Lasker, alleged hacker 53.6-Gigabyt data cache said.

Hacker, who communicated with Bloomberg through X, confirmed that they provided data to Lasker. The X account, which contains a racist handle and racist statements, refused to define themselves by saying that they were afraid of accusing. Bloomberg independently confirmed that this person hacked the records of the university.

It is not clear who else can access the stolen data. According to security experts, even if it is not immediately exploited, the attacked data can ultimately be used for malicious purposes, including theft, identity fraud and follow -up.

SocialProof Security Executive Board Chairman Rachel Tobac said, “Regardless of the guidance of the criminal, there is a concern when a person is involved in a data violation,” he said. “It is important to freeze your loan and seek special identity hunting feeds in all contact methods.”

Last month, Columbia reached an agreement with the Trump administration to restore a $ 200 million penalty to solve more than one civil rights investigation to strengthen campus security and the surveillance of international students.

The protests are at the center of the discussions because October 7, 2023, after the attack on Israel, continued the New York City campus through the war in Gaza.

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