New York (New York, USA), July 3 (LaPresse) – A politically motivated hacker breached the computer systems of Columbia University last week, stealing a large amount of student documents and data and causing a brief shutdown of the university’s IT systems, a university official reported. The cyberattack, which occurred on June 24, caused widespread network disruptions across the campus, preventing students and staff from accessing their email accounts, courses, and video conferencing software for several hours. On the same day, images of a smiling President Donald Trump appeared on several public monitors across the Manhattan campus. A Columbia spokesperson stated it is unclear whether the display of Trump’s photos is related to the data breach. “We are investigating the extent of the apparent theft and will share our findings with the university community and anyone affected by the breach of their personal data,” the university said.