Members of the University of Pennsylvania community were recently stunned to find alarming emails in their inboxes, all bearing the provocative subject line, “We got hacked.” These messages, which appeared to originate from official university accounts associated with Penn’s Graduate School of Education, quickly drew attention not only for their shocking content but also for the implication that the sender might actually be the hacker—or group of hackers—responsible for infiltrating the institution’s systems.
The emails contained inflammatory language and harsh criticism targeting the University of Pennsylvania itself, describing it in extremely derogatory and offensive terms. They accused the university of elitism, poor security management, and of engaging in biased or unethical practices when selecting both students and staff. According to the messages, the university allegedly favored applicants and employees connected to wealthy donors, family legacies, and diversity-related programs that the sender viewed as unmeritocratic. The emails further claimed that Penn routinely violated federal regulations, specifically referencing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)—a U.S. law that ensures the privacy of students’ academic and personal records. In addition, they cited the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in the Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) case, which prohibited race-based affirmative action in college admissions. The purported hacker declared that these alleged violations would soon result in the leaking of confidential student data and urged recipients to stop financially supporting the university.
For context, FERPA is a long-standing federal law designed to protect students’ educational data from unauthorized disclosure, ensuring that sensitive information such as grades, transcripts, and personal identifiers remain secure. The reference to SFFA, meanwhile, invoked one of the most consequential Supreme Court decisions in modern higher education, which has forced universities across the country to reevaluate their admissions policies and diversity initiatives. By invoking both FERPA and SFFA, the supposed hacker seemed intent on framing the attack not merely as a technical breach but as an act of political or ideological protest.
In a swift public response, the University of Pennsylvania formally acknowledged the existence of the fraudulent messages through an official statement on its website. The notice clarified that the emails were inauthentic and part of an ongoing cybersecurity incident. It warned recipients not to interact with the messages and reassured the community that the university’s Office of Information Security and its specialized Incident Response team were already investigating and working to contain the situation. Penn also advised vigilance among students, faculty, alumni, and staff, emphasizing the importance of skepticism toward unexpected digital communications that might appear legitimate at first glance.
This latest intrusion follows a broader pattern of politically motivated cyberattacks targeting elite academic institutions throughout 2024. Earlier in the year, Columbia University experienced a significant breach that reportedly compromised decades’ worth of sensitive admissions data. The individual claiming responsibility for that attack told Bloomberg journalists that their motivation was to uncover whether Columbia had continued using affirmative action practices despite the Supreme Court’s ruling. Like Penn, Columbia has lately found itself at the center of controversy surrounding campus debates and protests related to Israel’s ongoing conflict in Gaza—an issue that has become deeply polarizing in the academic sphere.
The self-proclaimed perpetrator behind the Columbia breach, who openly identified as “violently racist” and sympathetic to extremist ideologies, also took responsibility for additional hacks targeting New York University and the University of Minnesota. The violent and discriminatory nature of these declarations underscores the growing convergence of cybersecurity threats, political ideology, and hate-driven propaganda in the digital landscape. The University of Pennsylvania’s experience, therefore, serves as part of a disturbing trend in which cyberattacks on universities are not only about data theft or financial gain, but also function as instruments of ideological warfare and public intimidation.
As the investigation unfolds, Penn’s primary concern remains safeguarding the privacy and trust of its community while strengthening its digital defenses. The incident stands as a stark reminder that even well-resourced institutions known for academic excellence and technological sophistication are vulnerable to breaches when determined attackers are motivated by politics, ideology, or malice. The growing frequency of such incidents across higher education highlights the urgent necessity of robust cybersecurity infrastructure, continuous risk assessment, and proactive education to protect sensitive information in an increasingly perilous online environment.
Sourse: https://www.theverge.com/news/811600/university-of-pennsylvania-hack-woke
