The Accellion Data Breach: What You Need to Know

Every year, the college application season is one of the most stressful times for high school students. Years of hard work compiled into a compact resumé, months of grinding out essays and racking brains during interviews all culminate in a single letter from a university that dictates your future. For many students, this university is a part of the University of California system.

Usually, this information is confidential. This year, however, on December 24, 2020, the system that the University of California uses for file transfers was attacked and breached, leaking a plethora of sensitive information and rendering many applications vulnerable. Much of this information was also released on the internet. University data was also accessed without authorization.

The file transfer program used, named Accellion, was then parted with the UC system. They are now searching for a more secure solution and partnering with the FBI in order to get to the bottom of this cyberattack.

“It is really scary to me, because I apply assuming that my information is all secure,” said senior Marco L.

This hack also has implications that are troubling for the majority of university applicants, regardless of where they are applying. This is because, despite the UCs having such a good reputation, even they are not exempt from elaborately planned cyberattacks like these. More than 100 other organizations were also attacked in this debacle, which really brings into question the false sense of security that we have had for years in applications.

“Although I am not that scared about things like my transcript going out onto the internet, I am scared about all the other types of information that can be leaked so easily,” said junior Andrew Z. “Just goes to show how insecure the internet can be.”

The university has released several statements regarding this issue, and they assure that the applicants can have faith in the fact that this issue will be resolved soon.