Harvard University has once again fallen victim to a cyberattack. According to Bloomberg, an unauthorized party breached the university’s databases of former students, donors, some current students, and faculty members following a phone-based phishing attack. This is the latest cyberattack on Ivy League schools. Harvard has now suffered its second cyberattack this year. The university has not identified any potential suspect involved in the attack.
Harvard said on its website that Tuesday’s breach exposed personal contact details, donation information, fundraising data, and other engagement records related to former students. Harvard is the oldest and one of the wealthiest universities in the United States, typically raising more than $1 billion in funds every year. In October, Harvard said it was investigating reports that its data was compromised in a hacking campaign targeting Oracle Corp. customers.
University Took Immediate Action After Detecting the Breach
According to Bloomberg, Tim Bailey, Director of Communications at Harvard University Information Technology, said in a statement, “Harvard immediately took action to remove the attacker’s access to our systems and prevent further unauthorized access. We are working with third-party cybersecurity experts and law enforcement to investigate the incident.”
US colleges have been targets of hackers for many years, but Ivy League schools have been hit particularly hard in recent months. Earlier, Princeton University’s database was hacked on November 15, 2025. This database contained information about former students, donors, current students, and other members of the university community. The University of Pennsylvania also suffered a breach — on October 31, systems linked to development activities and alumni engagement were hacked. Columbia University began investigating a breach in June this year that compromised personal information of nearly 870,000 people, including students and applicants.
