Columbia U. confirms cyberattack compromised student, employee data
Columbia University on Tuesday announced that a cyberattack that it disclosed to the public last month has in fact compromised the personal information of employees and students.
In a post to the university’s website, administrators announced that an investigation uncovered that the cyberattack announced on July 2 had compromised “information about students and applicants related to admissions, enrollment, and financial aid processes, as well as certain personal information associated with some Columbia employees.”
The information included Social Security numbers, contact details, demographic data, academic histories, financial aid data, insurance details and health information. Columbia University Irving Medical Center patient records were not affected, the school said.
“Beginning August 7, we will begin notifying individuals, on a rolling basis, whose personal information may have been affected, via U.S. Postal Service mail,” the notice reads. “We will be offering affected individuals two years of complimentary credit monitoring, fraud consultation, and identity theft restoration services through a well-known vendor. Regardless of whether you are affected, we encourage all members of the University community to remain vigilant and continue to monitor your accounts for suspicious activity as you normally would.”
Such incidents have become commonplace among universities, which operate computer networks often designed for collaboration, but that also represent enticing targets for bad actors. A report published last summer by the cybersecurity firm Zscaler showed that ransomware threats were growing fastest in the health care and education sectors.
