22-03-2025
Hacker claims responsibility for replacing NYU's website with apparent test scores, racial epithet
A dark web user claimed responsibility for briefly hacking New York University's website Saturday, and replacing it with what appeared to be student test scores and an apparent racial epithet.
Instead of the usual images of college athletes and the Greenwich Village campus, the site featured a black background with green writing showing a message along with charts of what were purported to be SAT and ACT scores and GPAs for students in 2024, divided by race.
The site was reclaimed after approximately two hours, and back to normal by 12:54 p.m.
'On June 29 2023, racial affirmative action in college admissions was ruled illegal,' the female hacker's message reads. 'Computer N–gy Exploitation (CNE) reveals NYU continued anyway.'
The compromised site also featured downloadable files containing all of the hacked data.
It was unclear if the hacker, who goes by the name '@bestn–gy' on X, also gained unauthorized access to the university's database.
'It's literally just raw data from NYU's own data warehouse,' the hacker explained in a post. 'I just put in some bar graphs.'
It wasn't the first time the hacker had gone after a university, bragging on X that they had previously taken over the University of Minnesota's website in a 2023 incident.
During that hack, the Social Security numbers of more than 7 million students were exposed.
'There's a lot more data from their data warehouse that could be analyzed further,' @bestn–gy wrote. 'I only posted (redacted) bare minimum to prove they're breaking the law.'
The alleged data showed Asian students performed better on ACT and SAT tests, but that white students finished with higher GPAs.
The phrase 'TOP SECRET//NIGINT//NONORM' was placed at the top of the screen.
In a statement to The Post, spokesperson John Beckman said the hack redirected web traffic to a separate website starting just after 10 a.m.
'NYU's IT team responded immediately. The redirect to the hackers' webpage has been brought to a halt, their webpage has been taken down by its host, and NYU's actual website is now back on line.'
Beckman added: 'The University reported the hack to law enforcement, is taking steps to make sure the attackers are out of our systems, and is reviewing the University's systems to bolster their security.'
