Harvard Investigates IT Security Breach

Harvard is investigating a security breach to its Faculty of Arts and Sciences and central administration information technology networks that administrators say may have compromised email login information.

The breach was discovered on June 19, according to a joint statement from Provost Alan M. Garber ’76 and Executive Vice President Katie N. Lapp released Wednesday, and the University is working with federal law enforcement officials and security experts on an investigation.

Garber and Lapp’s statement maintained that officials currently “have no indication that personal data or research data have been exposed,” but administrators are urging affiliates of several University schools to change their Harvard email passwords in response to the incident.

Specifically, administrators recommend that affiliates of Harvard’s central administration, FAS, Harvard Divinity School, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, the Graduate School of Design, the Graduate School of Education, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the School of Public Health change their passwords.

Affiliates of Harvard Business School, the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School, and the School of Dental Medicine, meanwhile, “do not need to take any action at this time.”

An email sent to College students from University Vice President and Chief Information Officer Anne Margulies Wednesday asked that students change their email passwords and said to anticipate increased wait times for IT help desk resources.

The security breach follows the April hack of the website of Harvard’s Institute of Politics, allegedly by a Pro-Palestinian group.

FAS spokesperson Anna Cowenhoven declined to comment on details of the breach Wednesday evening.

—Check thecrimson.com and follow @thecrimson on Twitter for updates.

—Staff writer Melanie Y. Fu can be reached at melanie.fu@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @MelanieYFu.