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Harvard phishing breach exposed records linked to more than 850,000 people
A phishing attack on Harvard University exposed records linked to more than 850,000 people, according to Have I Been Pwned (HIBP). The newly reported estimate shows the breach affected a broad community of students, alumni, families, faculty and donors, and that the stolen files contained more than the personal and donation information Harvard initially disclosed.
The figure counts unique email addresses in the data dump, and not every record necessarily included every type of information. Harvard said the 2025 attack used phone-based phishing against its Alumni Affairs and Development department; ShinyHunters claimed responsibility and said it had stolen more than one million records. HIBP estimated a separate ShinyHunters breach at the University of Pennsylvania affected about 623,800 people.
In short
- Harvard breach data included more than 850,000 unique email addresses.
- The attack targeted its Alumni Affairs and Development department.
- HIBP says the stolen files held a wider range of data.
Explained simply
Harvard University is a US university with a large community of students, former students, staff, families and donors. Its Alumni Affairs and Development department works with former students and supporters, including people who give money to the university.
Phishing is a form of deception in which attackers pose as someone trustworthy to obtain access to accounts or information. In this case, the attack reportedly used phone calls, and the files taken contained information about people connected with Harvard; the number of email addresses in the data does not mean every person’s records contained the same details.
Have I Been Pwned is a service that collects and reports information about exposed data, while ShinyHunters is a group that has claimed responsibility for cyberattacks. The incident matters because a large number of people’s contact and other personal information may have been exposed, with possible risks varying according to what each record contained.
Read the full article at the source →
Originally published by The Register as “ShinyHunters hit 850k alumni, donors, students, and fam in last year’s Harvard University raid”.