HIGH SEVERITYEducation

University of Pennsylvania Data Breach

Verified by ObscureIQ Intelligence

7.5Severity
624KRecords
13Data Fields
2025Year

Impact & Downstream Threats

This breach carries high risk due to the nature of exposed data fields and the scale of affected records.

Primary downstream threats:
  • Financial fraud using exposed financial profile data
  • Identity verification bypass using name + date of birth combination
  • SIM swap attacks where phone numbers are present
  • Targeted phishing campaigns using exposed email addresses
  • Doxxing risk from physical address exposure
  • Employment-based social engineering using job and employer data

Breach Intelligence

EntityUniversity of Pennsylvania
OrganizationPrivate University • United States
Breach DateOctober 2025
DisclosureFebruary 2026
Records Exposed~624K
Attack VectorMisconfiguration
SourceHave I Been Pwned / DataBreach.com / ObscureIQ intelligence
StatusConfirmed

Executive Summary

What happened in the , University of Pennsylvania, Breach? February 4th 2026, 7:00 pm EST, The University of Pennsylvania breach, detected on October 31, 2025, was a sophisticated intrusion attributed to ShinyHunters (Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters). The attackers gained access by compromising a PennKey SSO account, allowing them to move laterally through systems like Salesforce and SharePoint. Before the full data dump, the group gained notoriety by weaponizing Penn's internal tools to send offensive mass emails to over 700,000 students and alumni, turning a standard theft into a public relations nightmare.,

, The exfiltrated data is highly granular, containing , 3,062,299 full names, , , 2,814,987 street addresses, , , 1,858,436 dates of birth, , , 643,833 phone numbers, , and , 623,964 emails, . Most critically, the leak exposed donation amounts and internal dossiers on "Ultra High Net Worth" donors, including high-profile alumni like the Trump family. These files contained sensitive internal commentary and "wealth band" assessments, providing a roadmap for future social engineering attacks against the university's donor base.,

About University of Pennsylvania

Private research university in Philadelphia.

Private UniversityUnited Statesupenn.edu

Data Points Exposed

Verified fields in the released dataset:
Dates of birth
Email addresses
Financial profile data
Full names
Gender
Job / occupation
Phone numbers
Physical addresses
Religion

Dark Web Verification

Status: Confirmed

  • Dataset containing approximately 624K records identified in breach intelligence sources.
  • The data is indexed and searchable across breach notification platforms.

Recommended Actions

⚠️ Do not assume this is low sensitivity.

Freeze Your Credit
Place a credit freeze with Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
Expect Targeted Phishing
Watch for emails referencing this breach. Verify communications through official channels.
Secure Email & Enable MFA
Email compromise is often the first pivot point. Enable multi-factor authentication.
Monitor Financial Accounts
Watch for unauthorized credit applications and suspicious activity.
Check Your Exposure
ObscureIQ clients: this breach is indexed in your profile.
Non-clients may request a breach impact review.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened in the University of Pennsylvania data breach?

In October 2025, University of Pennsylvania experienced a data breach that exposed approximately 624K records containing personal information.

What data was exposed?

The exposed data includes fields such as date of birth, donation history:charitable, email address, financial profile:income, full name.

How many records were affected?

Approximately 624K records were affected based on current breach intelligence.

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ObscureIQ Advisory

We combine proprietary dark web access with commercial and restricted breach intelligence to verify exposure and assess real-world risk.

If you are:
  • A public-facing individual
  • A high-profile executive
  • A customer of University of Pennsylvania
  • Or concerned about credential reuse
Services
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Classification Tags

MisconfigurationEducationEmailPhoneAddressFinancial DataDOB

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