Ethical Hacking News
New York University's website was hacked over the weekend, with racist messages and graphs showing test scores broken down by race being displayed. The hack, which occurred on Saturday morning, highlights the dangers of online harassment and the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in higher education.
New York University's website was hacked, displaying racial slurs and graphs purporting to show test scores by race. The hacker claimed to have accessed NYU's own data warehouse, but the data didn't prove that the university admits students based on race. The hack was seen as an attempt to intimidate universities into abandoning diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. The incident highlights the ongoing assault on higher education institutions by racists and the Trump administration.
NYU flags hang outside university building
Copyright Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images
A recent attack on New York University's website has sent shockwaves through the academic community, as the institution's homepage was defaced for several hours and used to display racial slurs and graphs that purported to show test scores of students broken down by race. The hack, which occurred on Saturday morning, was carried out by an individual who identifies themselves as a racial slur enthusiast with the handle "bestn*ggy" on X.
The hacker hijacked the university's homepage and displayed the message, “On June 29 2023, racial affirmative action in college admissions was ruled illegal. Computer N*ggy Exploitation (CNE) reveals NYU continued anyway.” This was followed by a graph purporting to show the average SAT scores, ACT scores, and grade point average of NYU applicants who were admitted into the university, broken down by race.
The hacker also published links to mirrors of the supposed data they gained access to in order to display the scores, identified by the hacker as “raw data” with personally identifiable information redacted. The individual responsible for the hack claimed that the data was "literally just raw data from NYU's own data warehouse" and that they "only posted (redacted) bare minimum to prove they're breaking the law."
The apparent claim being put forth by the hacker and their racist edgelord persona is that NYU is admitting college students based in some way on race. The theory being that some students would not be admitted if they were being judged solely on their test scores and GPA. However, this data doesn't prove that at all.
NYU is a test-optional school, so the people who submit test results in the first place are self-selecting – they’re going to submit a score if they think it might help them. Likewise, the scores can’t account for the wealth disparity that plagues standardized testing, as the children of wealthy people significantly outperform students from lower-income households, in no small part due to the resources available to them.
NYU posts its own data on incoming classes, and it indicated that it saw a decline in historically underrepresented minority groups for the class of 2028 following the Supreme Court’s decision to end affirmative action within college admissions. The hacker's actions can be seen as an attempt to intimidate universities into abandoning diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
Higher education is already under assault by the Trump administration, but this incident highlights that attacks on these institutions are being carried out by racists who want to punish universities, possibly galvanized by the Trump administration’s own crackdown on higher education institutions. The university's website hack serves as a reminder of how important it is for institutions of higher learning to prioritize diversity and inclusion programs.
In light of this incident, NYU officials are urging their students to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity on campus.
Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/New-York-University-Website-Hacked-to-Display-Racist-Garbage-ehn.shtml
https://gizmodo.com/nyu-website-hacked-to-display-racist-garbage-2000579510
Published: Sat Mar 22 16:06:42 2025 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
