Columbia University Hit by Hacktivist Data Breach: 2.5 Million Applicant Records Compromised

Columbia University suffered a significant data breach, with a hacktivist claiming responsibility for stealing 460GB of data, including details from 2.5 million student applications spanning decades. The hacker, allegedly motivated by a political agenda, targeted information on applicant acceptance/rejection, citizenship, ID numbers, and academic programs. While the university has engaged a cybersecurity firm and claims no recent malicious activity, the full extent of the breach, which also included employee and applicant Social Security numbers, remains under investigation and could take months to determine.