Malicious computer hackers gained access to a Web server at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences on Sunday, snagging data about the site’s administrators. They posted the information on a popular file-trading Web site, along with a taunting statement about “the insecurity of Harvard’s server.”
Computing officials at the graduate school took the Web site offline while they investigated the incident, and the Web site remains out of operation today, three days later.
“Apparently they’re still working on the problem,” said Robert Mitchell, director of communications for the graduate school. He declined to give further details, adding that the only person authorized to talk about the incident, Noah S. Selsby, a client technology adviser, is not available today. Mr. Selsby told The Harvard Crimson that no personal information about students or professors was obtained by the digital intruders.
The intruders posted a zip file that contains three files apparently obtained from Harvard. A post on TorrentFreak, a blog that tracks file-trading issues, says the files contain a directory structure for the site as well as the logins and passwords for some of the system’s administrators. -Jeffrey R. Young
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