Brinztech Alert: Student Data of EPITA French Computer Science School on Sale

Dark Web News Analysis

Cybersecurity intelligence from February 16, 2026, has identified a targeted data sale on a prominent dark web forum involving EPITA (École Pour l’Informatique et les Techniques Avancées). A threat actor is currently marketing a database for $100, claiming it contains the personal information of 14,753 individuals associated with the institution.

The dataset reportedly includes:

• Student PII: Full Names and Nicknames.
• Contact Information: Email Addresses (likely both personal and @epita.fr accounts).
• Academic Metadata: Graduation Years and potentially profile pictures.
• Contextual Data: Information that could be used to identify specific specializations, such as Cybersecurity or AI.

This incident follows a broader trend of “academic scraping” and credential theft targeting French higher education. Similar activity was reported in late January 2026 involving Epitech, another member of the Ionis Education Group, where scraped profiles were shared on BreachForums.

Key Cybersecurity Insights

For a school that trains the world’s future cybersecurity professionals, this breach is particularly ironic and represents a “Tier 1” social engineering threat:

• High-Fidelity Spear-Phishing: Attackers now have a “hit list” of nearly 15,000 tech-savvy individuals. They are likely to launch hyper-targeted phishing campaigns using the leaked graduation years to craft convincing lures, such as fake “Alumni Networking” invites or “Junior Developer” recruitment scams.
• Credential Stuffing & Lateral Movement: Many students use their school email or common handles across developer platforms like GitHub, GitLab, or Stack Overflow. Threat actors will use this list to perform credential stuffing, potentially gaining access to private repositories or proprietary source code.
• Reputational and Institutional Risk: As a leading cybersecurity hub, a data leak involving EPITA students erodes institutional trust. Furthermore, if the graduation years and nicknames are combined with public LinkedIn profiles, it facilitates “social mapping”—allowing actors to identify which graduates have moved into sensitive roles within government or defense agencies.
• Supply Chain/Identity Layer Targeting: Recent trends in February 2026 (such as the Harvard/ShinyHunters breach) show that attackers are no longer just seeking credit cards; they are weaponizing the “identity layer” of prestigious institutions to harvest the metadata of future influence.

Mitigation Strategies

To protect the student community and secure the academic perimeter, the following strategies are urgently recommended:

• Global Password Rotation: EPITA should mandate an immediate password reset for all current students, faculty, and alumni using school-managed accounts. Students should be advised to change passwords on any external developer or professional platforms where they use the same email or handle.
• Enforce Hardware-Based MFA: Given the technical nature of the student body, the school should move beyond SMS/app-based OTPs and implement Security Keys (FIDO2) for all administrative and lab access points.
• Institutional Verification and Stakeholder Alert: EPITA IT teams must verify the authenticity of the 14,753 records. If the breach is confirmed, a transparent notification should be sent to all stakeholders, warning them of the specific risk of “Alumni-themed” phishing.
• Enhanced Threat Hunting: Conduct a forensic audit of all student-facing portals and CRM systems. Look for evidence of Scraping Bots or unauthorized API calls that could have been used to compile this database.

Secure Your Future with Brinztech — Global Cybersecurity Solutions

From agile SMEs and global enterprises to national agencies, Brinztech provides the strategic oversight necessary to defend against evolving digital threats. We offer expert consultancy to audit your current IT policies and GRC frameworks, identifying critical vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. Whether you are protecting a local business or a government entity, we ensure your security posture translates into lasting technical resilience—keeping your digital footprint secure, your citizens’ data private, and your future protected.

Questions or Feedback? For expert advice, use our ‘Ask an Analyst’ feature. Brinztech does not warrant the validity of external claims. For general inquiries or to report this post, please email us: contact@brinztech.com