HackingEducationEducationStolen CredentialsData ExfiltratedTargetedIdentity (basic)Government IDFinancialHealth (basic)MediumContained

Columbia University

bd_d5052bb9304189ed · schema v1 · pii pii-v1

Severity

Medium

Discovered

Jun 24, 2025

Filed

Aug 7, 2025

To disclose

6 weeks

Affected

Not disclosed

Linked

15 filings

Confidence

65%

Full breach record for Columbia University →7 incidents on file

Columbia University notified South Carolina residents of a cyber incident where an unauthorized third party accessed the network on or about May 16, 2025, and exfiltrated files. Data included names, DOBs, SSNs, and academic/financial/health info. No patient records were affected. Columbia reported to law enforcement, engaged external experts, and offers 2 years of credit monitoring via Kroll.

J jump to incidentP pin to compareR raw source

Incident timeline

undetected · 39 days

discovery → filing · 6 weeks / 44 days

May 16, 2025

Begins

Jun 24, 2025

Discovered

Aug 7, 2025

Filed

vs. sector median

2 wks faster

This filing is one of 15 about the same incident.View merged incident

Linked disclosures

Why this link?

Regulatory filings (10) · sorted by filing gap

Maine State AGbd_07533b0c85ac791c2025-08-07Candidate
Massachusetts State AGbd_0e780a9cd65865c92025-08-07Verified
Washington State AGbd_2c8504262b9c10eb2025-08-07Verified
Indiana State AGbd_44bbed6c166a9c6d2025-08-07Verified

Show 6 more filings ↓up to 19d gap

Nebraska State AGbd_4af6126d602d67a62025-08-07Verified
Delaware State AGbd_82648491a36c0afc2025-08-07Verified
Montana State AGbd_88b5b3d68c5a023a2025-08-07Verified
Iowa State AGbd_2337be0c0546ca352025-08-08 · +1dVerified
New Hampshire State AGbd_1de0d58aeabac3772025-08-12 · +5dVerified
Rhode Island State AGbd_d3027779956216f92025-08-26 · +19dVerified

Showing first 10 of 14 linked disclosures.

Name: Columbia University
norm: columbia university

Name: Columbia University
norm: columbia university
Industry: Educationllm

Discovered: Jun 24, 2025
Breach occurred: May 16, 2025
Undetected for: 39 daysoccurrence → discovery
Materiality determined: —
Notification sent: Jun 24, 2025
Affected individuals: Not disclosed
Data types: Identity (basic)Government IDFinancialHealth (basic)
Attack vector: Unauthorized Access
MITRE ATT&CK: T1078 Valid AccountsT1041 Exfiltration Over C2 Channel
Threat actor: External
Regulator citations: Reported the incident to law enforcement
Initial access: valid_credentials

During the incident: Activated its response process
Launched an investigation with the support of external cybersecurity experts
Reported the incident to law enforcement
Offering two years of complimentary credit monitoring and identity restoration services through Kroll
Changes made: Implemented a number of safeguards across its systems to enhance security
Examining what additional steps it can take and additional safeguards it can implement to prevent something like this from happening again
Source: Quoted from the filing itself, not independently verified.

Time to disclose: 6 weeks(44 days from discovery to filing)
Compliance flags: — (clock not assessable for this source)

Status: No extraction artifact recorded for this disclosure.

Filing propagation · 11 filings · 11 states

View merged incident ↗

Maine State AGAug 7 · first

Massachusetts State AGAug 7 · first

Washington State AGAug 7 · first

Indiana State AGAug 7 · first

Nebraska State AGAug 7 · first

Delaware State AGAug 7 · first

Montana State AGAug 7 · first

South Carolina State AGAug 7 · first · this page

Iowa State AG+1d

New Hampshire State AG+5d

Rhode Island State AG+19d

Pattern: first filing Aug 7 (ME), last Aug 26 (RI) — a 19-day rolling notification. Rolling spreads often mean counsel is filing as thresholds trip per state. Why this link?

Cascade drawn from the first 10 linked disclosures of 14 — the full spread may be wider.

Evidence ladder

Leak-site claim

Attacker assertion only. Establishes: claim date, group, alleged victim.

Press / market report

Unlocks: incident narrative, operational impact. Still no compliance clock.

State AG / regulator filingThis record

Unlocks: discovery date, data types, affected count, compliance clock.

SEC 8-K / victim statement

Unlocks: materiality, stated response, full audit trail. Ceiling removed.

Source URL: https://consumer.sc.gov/sites/consumer/files/Documents/Security%20Breach%20Notices/2025/Columbia%20University%20Consumer%20Notice.pdf
DisclosureLens links to the originating regulator URL — full filing bodies are not redistributed from public surfaces (§4.5).
Filed at: Aug 7, 2025
Raw hash: c6484550d04e7af77ca6b2c4083997306f32b906863b8ffe7e206ffcc52368ba

Linked disclosures

Regulatory filings (10) · sorted by filing gap

Reporting entityColumbia University

Victim entityColumbia University

Incidentdiscovered Jun 24, 2025

Stated responseActivated its response process

Complianceclock not assessable

Extraction provenanceno artifact recorded

Source provenanceconsumer.sc.gov