University of Pennsylvania Reports Data Breach Involving ‘Highly Offensive’ Emails

The University of Pennsylvania called the FBI after hackers breached its systems last week and sent emails that criticized the institution as “elitist,” “woke,” and “completely unmeritocratic.”

University officials said on Monday that the hack compromised “select information systems” and elicited quick collaboration with law enforcement and independent cybersecurity experts to ensure any further fallout could be mitigated.

“We continue to investigate the breach of data of select information systems. We understand and share our community’s concerns and have reported this to the FBI,” the university said in a statement. “We are working with law enforcement as well as other third-party technical resources to address this as rapidly as possible.”

The swath of emails, sent on Halloween from seemingly legitimate university accounts connected with the Graduate School of Education, criticized the University of Pennsylvania’s operational ethos and personnel in irreverent terms, according to a brief sent to news outlets.

A university spokesperson said the emails were “highly offensive” and “are in no way reflective of Penn or Penn GSE’s mission or actions,” according to The Daily Pennsylvanian, the university’s student newspaper.

“Please know that we are actively and quickly investigating and taking immediate steps to stop these emails from being sent,” the spokesperson said in an email on Oct. 31 to the Penn Graduate School of Education community. “Our IT team at Penn GSE and the University’s IT team and Crisis Response Teams are working as quickly as they can.”

The FBI has yet to comment as of publication time.

Comparable hacks have compromised other universities, including Columbia University. In July, a hacker gained access to Columbia University student information, including New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s admissions application.

In that cyberattack, university officials said they believed the hacker was politically motivated, describing them as a “hacktivist,” a type of hacker motivated by political activism rather than financial gain, as is typical with ransomware attacks.

“The university’s investigation has indicated the hackers are highly sophisticated and were very targeted in their theft of documents,” a university official told The Epoch Times in an email. “They broke in and stole student data with the apparent goal of furthering their political agenda.”

The hacker accessed data on Social Security numbers, contact details, demographic information, academic history, financial aid-related information, insurance-related information, and certain health information, the university said in an update.

Reuters contributed to this report.