Subj : "We have terrible security practices" - University of Pennsylvani
To   : All
From : TechnologyDaily
Date : Mon Nov 03 2025 13:30:08

"We have terrible security practices" - University of Pennsylvania hackers 
say they've stolen over a million records in major cyberattack

Date:
Mon, 03 Nov 2025 13:25:00 +0000

Description:
The hackers also insulted the University and confirmed they were targeting 
donors.

FULL STORY
======================================================================Attacker
 accessed University systems via compromised SSO, stealing data on 1.2 
million individuals Offensive mass email sent post-ejection using retained 
access to Salesforce Marketing Cloud Stolen data includes PII, financials, 
and demographics; attacker targets wealthy donors, no ransom planned 

Cybercriminals have claimed responsibility for the recent cyberattack on the 
University of Pennsylvania, claiming they stole data on approximately 1.2 
million students, alumni, and donors. 

An unnamed threat actor told BleepingComputer they gained full access to a 
University employees PennKey SSO account, which gave them access to Penns VPN 
, Salesforce data, Qlik analytics platform, SAP business intelligence system, 
and SharePoint files. 

The information stolen allegedly includes peoples names, dates of birth, 
addresses, phone numbers, estimated net worth, donation history, and 
demographic details (race, religion, sexual orientation, and similar). 
Offensive emails 

The confirmation came in response to the Universitys claims which somewhat 
downplayed the severity of the hit. 

Data exfiltration seems to have taken place around October 30 and 31, after 
which the University spotted the intrusion and ousted the attacker. The move 
seems to have angered them, as they then used access to Salesforce Marketing 
Cloud (which they kept), to send an offensive email to roughly 700,000 
recipients. 

"The University of Pennsylvania is a dog**** elitist institution full of woke 
ret*rds. We have terrible security practices and are completely 
unmeritocratic," the email said. 

"We hire and admit morons because we love legacies, donors, and unqualified 
affirmative action admits. We love breaking federal laws like FERPA (all your 
data will be leaked) and Supreme Court rulings like SFFA." 

The University of Pennsylvania described the emails as obviously fake and 
fraudulent. 

The attackers then confirmed they will not ask the University for a ransom 
payment, since they dont think the victims would pay, anyway. "The main goal 
was their vast, wonderfully wealthy donor database, they said. 

It would seem they will try to target the donors now. 

 Via BleepingComputer 

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======================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/we-have-terrible-security-practices-uni
versity-of-pennsylvania-hackers-say-theyve-stolen-over-a-million-records-in-ma
jor-cyberattack


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