Princeton University confirmed a cybersecurity breach on **November 15**, where an **Advancement database** containing sensitive personal data of **alums, donors, faculty, students, parents, and community members** was compromised by external attackers on **November 10**. The unauthorized access lasted **under 24 hours** before being detected and mitigated. The exposed data includes **names, email addresses, phone numbers, home/business addresses**, and **fundraising/donation records**, potentially revealing philanthropic histories. While **Social Security numbers, passwords, financial details (credit cards/bank accounts), student records (FERPA-protected), and most employment data were not exposed**, the breach still risks **identity theft, phishing, and social engineering attacks** targeting affected individuals. Princeton has engaged **external cybersecurity experts and law enforcement** to investigate but has not yet identified the attackers or the exact scope of accessed data. The university warned of heightened fraud risks and advised vigilance against suspicious communications. The incident underscores vulnerabilities in **educational institutions’ large-scale personal data repositories** and the cascading risks of reputational harm and follow-on attacks.
Source: https://gbhackers.com/princeton-university-data-breach/
Princeton University Graduate School cybersecurity rating report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/princeton-university-graduate-school
"id": "PRI2493024111825",
"linkid": "princeton-university-graduate-school",
"type": "Breach",
"date": "11/2025",
"severity": "85",
"impact": "4",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with customers data leaks"{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': 'Alums, donors, faculty members, '
'students, parents, and other '
'community members',
'industry': 'Higher Education',
'location': 'Princeton, New Jersey, USA',
'name': 'Princeton University',
'type': 'Educational Institution'}],
'customer_advisories': ['Urged to monitor personal information for fraud',
'Advised to verify unsolicited communications before '
'clicking links or downloading attachments',
'Informed that Princeton representatives will never '
'request SSNs, passwords, or banking details via '
'unsolicited calls/texts/emails'],
'data_breach': {'data_exfiltration': 'Unknown (investigation ongoing; not '
'confirmed if data was exfiltrated or '
'only accessed)',
'personally_identifiable_information': ['Names',
'Email addresses',
'Telephone numbers',
'Home addresses',
'Business addresses'],
'sensitivity_of_data': 'Moderate (no SSNs, passwords, '
'financial data, student records, or '
'employment details except for donors)',
'type_of_data_compromised': ['Personal identifiers (names, '
'email addresses, telephone '
'numbers, home/business '
'addresses)',
'Fundraising and donation '
'records']},
'date_detected': '2023-11-10',
'date_publicly_disclosed': '2023-11-15',
'date_resolved': '2023-11-10',
'description': 'Princeton University confirmed that an Advancement database '
'containing sensitive personal information about alums, '
'donors, faculty members, students, parents, and other '
'community members was compromised by outside actors. The '
'unauthorized access lasted less than 24 hours before the '
'institution’s security teams discovered and responded to the '
'incident. The compromised database contains names, email '
'addresses, telephone numbers, home/business addresses, and '
'fundraising/donation records. Highly sensitive data such as '
'Social Security numbers, passwords, financial information, '
'student records, and employment details (except for donors) '
'were not exposed.',
'impact': {'brand_reputation_impact': 'Potential reputational harm due to '
'exposure of donor and community member '
'data; heightened risk of '
'phishing/social engineering attacks',
'data_compromised': ['Names',
'Email addresses',
'Telephone numbers',
'Home addresses',
'Business addresses',
'Fundraising records',
'Donation history'],
'downtime': '<24 hours',
'identity_theft_risk': 'Moderate (personal identifiers exposed but '
'no SSNs, financial data, or passwords)',
'operational_impact': 'Limited to single database; no other '
'systems compromised',
'payment_information_risk': 'None (no financial data exposed)',
'systems_affected': ['Advancement database']},
'initial_access_broker': {'high_value_targets': ['Advancement database (donor '
'and community member '
'data)']},
'investigation_status': 'Ongoing (coordinating with external cybersecurity '
'experts and law enforcement; scope and attacker '
'identity not yet determined)',
'recommendations': ['Monitor personal information for signs of identity theft '
'or fraud',
'Remain vigilant against phishing/social engineering '
'attacks leveraging breach details',
'Verify suspicious communications purporting to be from '
'Princeton University via known contacts'],
'references': [{'source': 'GBHackers (GBH)'}],
'response': {'communication_strategy': ['Public disclosure on 2023-11-15',
'Direct notification to potentially '
'affected individuals',
'Advisory on vigilance against '
'phishing/social engineering',
'Instructions to verify suspicious '
'communications via known University '
'contacts'],
'containment_measures': 'Attackers removed from systems within '
'24 hours',
'incident_response_plan_activated': True,
'law_enforcement_notified': True,
'third_party_assistance': ['Cybersecurity experts']},
'stakeholder_advisories': ['Direct notification to potentially affected '
'individuals (2023-11-15)',
'Public advisory on phishing risks and '
'verification procedures'],
'title': 'Princeton University Advancement Database Breach',
'type': 'Data Breach (Unauthorized Access)'}