Columbia University Data Breach Investigation
Strauss Borrelli PLLC, a leading data breach law firm, is investigating Columbia University (“Columbia”) regarding its recent cybersecurity incident. The Columbia cybersecurity incident may impact the privacy of sensitive personal information belonging to an undetermined number of individuals.
ABOUT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY:
Columbia is a higher education institution located in New York City. Founded in 1754, Columbia is the oldest institution of higher education in New York, and the fifth oldest in the United States.3 With its 17 schools and four affiliate schools spread over four campuses located in and around New York City, Columbia offers over 100 programs of study.3,4 Today, Columbia enrolls over 1,400 students annually and employs over 10,000 individuals.5
WHAT HAPPENED?
Recently, it was reported by multiple online sources that Columbia had experienced a cyberattack impacting the functionality of its systems. According to these sources, Columbia recently released a statement confirming the breach saying, “This morning, Columbia University IT systems experienced an outage affecting systems on our Morningside campus…. Our IT team has been working to restore services as quickly as possible, and we have notified law enforcement. At this time, no clinical operations at CUIMC have been impacted.”1 Additionally, several student services, including the school email system and CourseWorks – a portal used by professors to share student assignments – were reported impacted by the outage.1 As of July 1, 2025, Columbia has not disclosed the specific nature of the cybersecurity incident or confirmed whether the incident resulted in a data breach.
If you believe that you have been impacted by the Columbia University cybersecurity incident:
We would like to speak with you about your rights and potential legal remedies in response to this data breach. Please fill out the form, below, or contact us at 872.263.1100 or sam@straussborrelli.com.
