Columbia investigating possible cyberattack after website outage

Nacha Cattan and Cameron Fozi, Bloomberg News on Jun 24, 2025

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Columbia University is investigating whether a widespread system outage Tuesday was the result of a cyberattack on the Ivy League school, according to people familiar with the situation.

The university said in a statement that it’s working with law enforcement after experiencing an outage affecting its IT systems on its Upper West Side campus and that the school is working to restore services “as quickly as possible.” Columbia’s academic platforms, administrative systems and communication tools have been affected by the outage.

A law enforcement official said the school experienced an access control attack. The school doesn’t have any indication so far of ransomware, or breached or stolen data, according to one of the people familiar with the matter. Its main website was down earlier in the day, reporting an unknown error message.

High-profile cyberattacks have spread across industries, including to higher education, forcing at least one college to close permanently. In 2023, at least 30 colleges and universities were notified that personal information of students and employees could have been exposed from a cyberattack exploiting file-transfer software.

Columbia is already facing turmoil after the Trump administration pulled $400 million in federal funding, accusing the school of not doing enough to fight antisemitism at campus protests. The school saw two university presidents resign in the span of a year, and continues to negotiate with the federal government in an effort to restore funding.

An email from Columbia University Information Technology Tuesday morning told school affiliates to expect intermittent access to online services, including platforms that require authentication of university ID codes. The school also told affiliates to plan on bringing teaching or presentation materials to classrooms with a USB drive.

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(With assistance from Myles Miller.)

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