Cyberattack targets alumni and staff with mass emails amid tensions over university’s rejection of White House education compact.
Dateline
PHILADELPHIA | October 31, 2025
Summary
- Hackers compromised multiple University of Pennsylvania email accounts on Friday, sending mass messages from official @upenn.edu addresses claiming to represent the Graduate School of Education.
- The emails mocked Penn’s data security and threatened to leak personal information, referencing alleged violations of federal privacy law FERPA.
- University spokesperson Ron Ozio confirmed the incident, calling the messages fraudulent and “highly offensive,” and said Penn’s incident response team is investigating.
- The hackers’ messages, which urged donors to stop contributing, appear timed to coincide with Penn’s recent rejection of a White House “Compact for Academic Excellence” linked to the Trump administration’s higher education agenda.
- The proposed compact would require universities to abolish affirmative action, cap international student enrollment, and enforce restrictions targeting transgender students — terms Penn publicly refused.
Context
The breach adds pressure on universities facing political and digital threats as they resist federal efforts to reshape academic policy and autonomy through funding conditions.
Source & Attribution
TechCrunch;
