Cedar Crest College Data Breach: Investigation Remains Ongoing

Cedar Crest College, a private liberal arts women's college in Allentown, Pennsylvania, disclosed a significant cybersecurity incident affecting portions of the college's technology environment.

The college discovered the incident on July 13, 2026, and posted a notice on its website on July 16, 2026.

The incident impacted the college's FalconLink and FalconApp systems, as well as some network and cloud-based file-share systems, including campus-based network drives and OneDrive.

The following day, on July 14, 2026, a ransomware group known as NightSpire claimed responsibility for the attack on a dark web forum. According to the dark web posting, the group stated it had obtained the college's data and intended to publish it within three to four days.

Because the investigation is still in its early stages, many details about the scope of the breach remain unknown. The college has not yet confirmed the total number of individuals affected or the specific types of information that may have been compromised but will provide updates as it learns more about which systems and information may have been affected.

Cedar Crest College's response to the breach

Cedar Crest College set up a dedicated email address for questions specifically related to the cybersecurity incident, privacy concerns or potentially affected information. Community members can reach the incident response team at cybersecurity@cedarcrest.edu. The college advised that sensitive personal information should not be submitted through email and that secure instructions will be provided if additional information is needed to address an inquiry.

For technical support related to account, login, device, email, network or application issues, the college directed community members to its HelpDesk at helpdesk@cedarcrest.edu. The HelpDesk is available Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The college noted that the HelpDesk should be used only for technical problems, not for questions about potentially affected personal information or the scope of the investigation.

The college stated that if the investigation determines specific individuals were affected and notification is appropriate or required, it will communicate directly with those individuals.

The college said it will post future updates on its official website and send them via email as material information is confirmed.