Cyber Incident Victim: Smith College
Date:
Mar 2016
Location:
United States of America
Summary
Public networked printers at multiple universities, including Smith College, were targeted with unsolicited print jobs distributing white supremacist flyers containing swastikas and racist messages. The perpetrator exploited publicly accessible printers connected to institutional networks, sending documents en masse without breaching systems through unauthorized access. A subsequent copycat incident delivered anti-LGBT content to some of the same institutions. IT departments responded by implementing network filters to block similar malicious print traffic, highlighting vulnerabilities from internet-exposed printers. The attacker claimed to have indiscriminately targeted all publicly available printers across North America rather than specifically selecting the affected universities.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 2 motives | 1 technique |
| Threat Actor | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 actor | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
In late March 2016, public network printers at multiple U.S. universities, including Smith College, printed unsolicited flyers containing swastikas and white supremacist messages. The incident occurred on or around March 27 when Andrew "Weev" Auernheimer, a self-proclaimed hacker and internet troll, mass-distributed the print jobs to publicly accessible printers across North America. Auernheimer exploited the open network configurations of university printers, many of which were intentionally exposed to the internet to facilitate remote printing for students and faculty. He identified vulnerable devices through network scanning of public IP addresses rather than gaining unauthorized system access. At least seven institutions confirmed printer outputs, including Princeton University, University of California-Berkeley, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Brown University, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and Stony Brook University. Auernheimer later claimed in a New York Times interview that he hadn't specifically targeted universities but had broadcast the print jobs indiscriminately to all publicly available printers.
The incident triggered immediate operational responses from affected institutions. Stony Brook University's Chief Information Security Officer Philip Doesschate confirmed in a March 27 email that at least one campus printer had produced the offensive material and implemented network traffic filtering to block similar future transmissions. While no technical breach occurred, the event highlighted security vulnerabilities in publicly exposed printers. A subsequent copycat incident on March 28 involved anti-LGBT flyers printed at Berkeley and Amherst, which Auernheimer denied orchestrating. The primary attack caused reputational impacts through the distribution of hate materials on campus infrastructure but resulted in no legal consequences for Auernheimer due to the absence of unauthorized access. The perpetrator, previously convicted and later acquitted for the 2010 AT&T iPad email data exposure, resided in Serbia during these events, beyond immediate U.S. jurisdictional reach. Universities reinforced printer security configurations following the incident to prevent recurrence of such abuse.