Comparison Overview

Brown University

VS

Northwestern University

Brown University

One Prospect Street, Providence, Rhode Island, US, 02912
Last Update: 2025-11-27
Between 750 and 799

Located in historic Providence, Rhode Island and founded in 1764, Brown University is the seventh-oldest college in the United States. Brown is an independent, coeducational Ivy League institution comprising undergraduate and graduate programs, plus the Alpert Medical School, School of Public Health, School of Engineering, and the School of Professional Studies. With its talented and motivated student body and accomplished faculty, Brown is a leading research university that maintains a particular commitment to exceptional undergraduate instruction. Brown’s vibrant, diverse community consists of about 6,200 undergraduates, 2,000 graduate students, 490 medical school students, more than 5,000 summer, visiting, and online students, and over 700 faculty members. Brown students come from all 50 states and more than 115 countries. Undergraduates pursue bachelor’s degrees in more than 70 concentrations, ranging from Egyptology to cognitive neuroscience. Anything’s possible at Brown—the university’s commitment to undergraduate freedom means students must take responsibility as architects of their courses of study. Brown University has 51 doctoral programs and 28 master’s programs. The broad scope of options vary from interdisciplinary opportunities in molecular pharmacology and physiology to a master’s program in acting and directing through the Brown/Trinity Repertory Consortium. Around the world, nearly 90,000 Brown alumni are - in the words of Brown’s charter - leading lives of “usefulness and reputation” in every imaginable field of endeavor. Through events around the globe, reunions on campus, career resources, a host of online connections, and other services, the Brown Alumni Association fosters and supports a vibrant alumni community, wherever its members may be.

NAICS: 6113
NAICS Definition: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools
Employees: 10,500
Subsidiaries: 8
12-month incidents
0
Known data breaches
0
Attack type number
1

Northwestern University

633 Clark St, Evanston, IL, 60208, US
Last Update: 2025-11-25
Between 800 and 849

Northwestern is one of the nation’s premier research universities, combining innovative teaching and pioneering research in a highly collaborative, multidisciplinary, and diverse environment. Northwestern provides both students and faculty exceptional opportunities for intellectual, personal, and professional growth in beautiful settings, with two campuses located on Lake Michigan: a 240-acre campus in Evanston, minutes north of Chicago, and a 25-acre campus in downtown Chicago. A third campus in Doha, Qatar was founded in 2008. For more information visit http://www.northwestern.edu

NAICS: 6113
NAICS Definition: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools
Employees: 16,756
Subsidiaries: 18
12-month incidents
0
Known data breaches
0
Attack type number
0

Compliance Badges Comparison

Security & Compliance Standards Overview

https://images.rankiteo.com/companyimages/brown-university.jpeg
Brown University
ISO 27001
ISO 27001 certification not verified
Not verified
SOC2 Type 1
SOC2 Type 1 certification not verified
Not verified
SOC2 Type 2
SOC2 Type 2 certification not verified
Not verified
GDPR
GDPR certification not verified
Not verified
PCI DSS
PCI DSS certification not verified
Not verified
HIPAA
HIPAA certification not verified
Not verified
https://images.rankiteo.com/companyimages/northwestern-university.jpeg
Northwestern University
ISO 27001
ISO 27001 certification not verified
Not verified
SOC2 Type 1
SOC2 Type 1 certification not verified
Not verified
SOC2 Type 2
SOC2 Type 2 certification not verified
Not verified
GDPR
GDPR certification not verified
Not verified
PCI DSS
PCI DSS certification not verified
Not verified
HIPAA
HIPAA certification not verified
Not verified
Compliance Summary
Brown University
100%
Compliance Rate
0/4 Standards Verified
Northwestern University
0%
Compliance Rate
0/4 Standards Verified

Benchmark & Cyber Underwriting Signals

Incidents vs Higher Education Industry Average (This Year)

No incidents recorded for Brown University in 2025.

Incidents vs Higher Education Industry Average (This Year)

No incidents recorded for Northwestern University in 2025.

Incident History — Brown University (X = Date, Y = Severity)

Brown University cyber incidents detection timeline including parent company and subsidiaries

Incident History — Northwestern University (X = Date, Y = Severity)

Northwestern University cyber incidents detection timeline including parent company and subsidiaries

Notable Incidents

Last 3 Security & Risk Events by Company

https://images.rankiteo.com/companyimages/brown-university.jpeg
Brown University
Incidents

Date Detected: 04/2021
Type:Cyber Attack
Blog: Blog
https://images.rankiteo.com/companyimages/northwestern-university.jpeg
Northwestern University
Incidents

No Incident

FAQ

Northwestern University company demonstrates a stronger AI Cybersecurity Score compared to Brown University company, reflecting its advanced cybersecurity posture governance and monitoring frameworks.

Brown University company has historically faced a number of disclosed cyber incidents, whereas Northwestern University company has not reported any.

In the current year, Northwestern University company and Brown University company have not reported any cyber incidents.

Neither Northwestern University company nor Brown University company has reported experiencing a ransomware attack publicly.

Neither Northwestern University company nor Brown University company has reported experiencing a data breach publicly.

Brown University company has reported targeted cyberattacks, while Northwestern University company has not reported such incidents publicly.

Neither Brown University company nor Northwestern University company has reported experiencing or disclosing vulnerabilities publicly.

Neither Brown University nor Northwestern University holds any compliance certifications.

Neither company holds any compliance certifications.

Northwestern University company has more subsidiaries worldwide compared to Brown University company.

Northwestern University company employs more people globally than Brown University company, reflecting its scale as a Higher Education.

Neither Brown University nor Northwestern University holds SOC 2 Type 1 certification.

Neither Brown University nor Northwestern University holds SOC 2 Type 2 certification.

Neither Brown University nor Northwestern University holds ISO 27001 certification.

Neither Brown University nor Northwestern University holds PCI DSS certification.

Neither Brown University nor Northwestern University holds HIPAA certification.

Neither Brown University nor Northwestern University holds GDPR certification.

Latest Global CVEs (Not Company-Specific)

Description

ThingsBoard in versions prior to v4.2.1 allows an authenticated user to upload malicious SVG images via the "Image Gallery", leading to a Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability. The exploit can be triggered when any user accesses the public API endpoint of the malicious SVG images, or if the malicious images are embedded in an `iframe` element, during a widget creation, deployed to any page of the platform (e.g., dashboards), and accessed during normal operations. The vulnerability resides in the `ImageController`, which fails to restrict the execution of JavaScript code when an image is loaded by the user's browser. This vulnerability can lead to the execution of malicious code in the context of other users' sessions, potentially compromising their accounts and allowing unauthorized actions.

Risk Information
cvss4
Base: 6.2
Severity: LOW
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:L/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
Description

Mattermost versions 11.0.x <= 11.0.2, 10.12.x <= 10.12.1, 10.11.x <= 10.11.4, 10.5.x <= 10.5.12 fail to to verify that the token used during the code exchange originates from the same authentication flow, which allows an authenticated user to perform account takeover via a specially crafted email address used when switching authentication methods and sending a request to the /users/login/sso/code-exchange endpoint. The vulnerability requires ExperimentalEnableAuthenticationTransfer to be enabled (default: enabled) and RequireEmailVerification to be disabled (default: disabled).

Risk Information
cvss3
Base: 9.9
Severity: LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Description

Mattermost versions 11.0.x <= 11.0.2, 10.12.x <= 10.12.1, 10.11.x <= 10.11.4, 10.5.x <= 10.5.12 fail to sanitize team email addresses to be visible only to Team Admins, which allows any authenticated user to view team email addresses via the GET /api/v4/channels/{channel_id}/common_teams endpoint

Risk Information
cvss3
Base: 4.3
Severity: LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
Description

Exposure of email service credentials to users without administrative rights in Devolutions Server.This issue affects Devolutions Server: before 2025.2.21, before 2025.3.9.

Description

Exposure of credentials in unintended requests in Devolutions Server.This issue affects Server: through 2025.2.20, through 2025.3.8.