Ivy League University Breach Exposes Data Tied to 851,000 Accounts – Names, Addresses and Donation Details Leaked

Dextape brief

By Dextape Desk · November 4, 2026

Data tied to 851,000 unique email addresses was taken from Harvard University's alumni and development systems, according to breach notification service Have I Been Pwned. The leaked material also includes names, birth dates, phone numbers, street addresses and social media profiles tied to alumni, benefactors, parents, and some staff, faculty and students. Harvard said it found on November 18, 2025, that a phone-based phishing attack had reached its systems, and it sent notices on November 22, 2025, to people who may have been affected. The ShinyHunters extortion group claimed responsibility and said it took over one million records. In early February, after Harvard declined to pay a ransom, the group posted a 1.1GB archive on its dark web site. Harvard has not pinned the intrusion on any particular criminal group.

Why it matters: The case shows how personal records held by institutions can be exposed through social engineering and extortion campaigns.

Summary by Dextape, based on reporting by DailyHodl. Written with AI from the publisher’s text and checked automatically for copied wording and unsupported figures. Not investment advice.