University of Pennsylvania probes data breach, seeks FBI help

Mohan Sinha
06 Nov 2025, 01:09 GMT+10

The University of Pennsylvania has requested assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation after offensive emails were sent out to its alumni mailing lists
According to a university statement, a data breach impacted “select information systems,” prompting an immediate response
Cybersecurity publication Bleeping Computer quoted a source it identified as the hacker, claiming that data belonging to 1.2 million university donors had been compromised in the breach

WASHINGTON, D.C.: The University of Pennsylvania has requested assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation after offensive emails were sent out to its alumni mailing lists.

According to a university statement, a data breach impacted "select information systems," prompting an immediate response.

"We are coordinating with law enforcement and additional third-party cybersecurity experts to resolve this as quickly as possible," the institution said this week. The FBI did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

An email circulated to University of Pennsylvania alumni on October 31 and reviewed by Reuters showed an individual impersonating the university while criticizing it as "elitist," "woke," and "entirely unmeritocratic," along with other vulgar descriptions of students and staff.

Cybersecurity publication Bleeping Computer quoted a source it identified as the hacker, claiming that data belonging to 1.2 million university donors had been compromised in the breach. Reuters was not able to independently verify the statement or identify those responsible.

For many years, universities have remained prime targets for both espionage actors and cybercriminal groups.

In recent months, several higher-education institutions have reported breaches attributed to a hacker supportive of Adolf Hitler, including Columbia University, where the incident led to the leaking of personal details connected to New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani's application when he was a student.