Comparison Overview

Harvard University

VS

Penn State University

Harvard University

30 Dunster St, Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, 02138
Last Update: 2026-01-24
Between 750 and 799

Harvard University is devoted to excellence in teaching, learning, and research, and to developing leaders in many disciplines who make a difference globally. Founded in 1636, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. The official flagship Harvard social media channels are maintained by Harvard Public Affairs and Communications and aim to provide access to the people, places, events, news and research at our Institution. We ask that all visitors to Harvard’s digital spaces be civil to one another and to the site editors. Personal attacks, profanity, commercial solicitations, spam, misinformation or other inappropriate contributions are grounds for comment removal. We ask that you stay on topic when contributing to a discussion and refrain from duplicate posts. Hateful or discriminatory comments regarding race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or political beliefs will not be tolerated. The page administrators reserve the right to delete inappropriate or abusive comments and to permanently ban or block users from the Harvard social media accounts.

NAICS: 6113
NAICS Definition: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools
Employees: 33,569
Subsidiaries: 57
12-month incidents
1
Known data breaches
1
Attack type number
1

Penn State University

201 Old Main, University Park, pa, US, 16802-1589
Last Update: 2026-01-21
Between 800 and 849

There’s a reason Penn State consistently ranks among the top one percent of the world’s universities. Across 24 campuses, our nearly 88,000 students and 17,000 faculty and staff know the real measure of success goes beyond the classroom—it’s the positive impact made on communities across the world. From access to state-of-the-art resources to interdisciplinary pursuits in collaborative atmospheres, a Penn State degree is more than an education. The experiences and knowledge gained here will form the foundation for the lives our students build. Their contributions to the world begin with a Penn State degree. We Are Penn State.

NAICS: 6113
NAICS Definition: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools
Employees: 31,777
Subsidiaries: 3
12-month incidents
0
Known data breaches
0
Attack type number
0

Compliance Badges Comparison

Security & Compliance Standards Overview

https://images.rankiteo.com/companyimages/harvard-university.jpeg
Harvard 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/penn-state-university.jpeg
Penn State 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
Harvard University
100%
Compliance Rate
0/4 Standards Verified
Penn State University
0%
Compliance Rate
0/4 Standards Verified

Benchmark & Cyber Underwriting Signals

Incidents vs Higher Education Industry Average (This Year)

Harvard University has 50.0% fewer incidents than the average of same-industry companies with at least one recorded incident.

Incidents vs Higher Education Industry Average (This Year)

No incidents recorded for Penn State University in 2026.

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

Harvard University cyber incidents detection timeline including parent company and subsidiaries

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

Penn State University cyber incidents detection timeline including parent company and subsidiaries

Notable Incidents

Last 3 Security & Risk Events by Company

https://images.rankiteo.com/companyimages/harvard-university.jpeg
Harvard University
Incidents

Date Detected: 1/2026
Type:Breach
Attack Vector: Social Engineering (Phone-based Phishing)
Blog: Blog
https://images.rankiteo.com/companyimages/penn-state-university.jpeg
Penn State University
Incidents

No Incident

FAQ

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

Harvard University company has historically faced a number of disclosed cyber incidents, whereas Penn State University company has not reported any.

In the current year, Harvard University company has reported more cyber incidents than Penn State University company.

Neither Penn State University company nor Harvard University company has reported experiencing a ransomware attack publicly.

Harvard University company has disclosed at least one data breach, while the other Penn State University company has not reported such incidents publicly.

Neither Penn State University company nor Harvard University company has reported experiencing targeted cyberattacks publicly.

Neither Harvard University company nor Penn State University company has reported experiencing or disclosing vulnerabilities publicly.

Neither Harvard University nor Penn State University holds any compliance certifications.

Neither company holds any compliance certifications.

Harvard University company has more subsidiaries worldwide compared to Penn State University company.

Harvard University company employs more people globally than Penn State University company, reflecting its scale as a Higher Education.

Neither Harvard University nor Penn State University holds SOC 2 Type 1 certification.

Neither Harvard University nor Penn State University holds SOC 2 Type 2 certification.

Neither Harvard University nor Penn State University holds ISO 27001 certification.

Neither Harvard University nor Penn State University holds PCI DSS certification.

Neither Harvard University nor Penn State University holds HIPAA certification.

Neither Harvard University nor Penn State University holds GDPR certification.

Latest Global CVEs (Not Company-Specific)

Description

Typemill is a flat-file, Markdown-based CMS designed for informational documentation websites. A reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) exists in the login error view template `login.twig` of versions 2.19.1 and below. The `username` value can be echoed back without proper contextual encoding when authentication fails. An attacker can execute script in the login page context. This issue has been fixed in version 2.19.2.

Risk Information
cvss3
Base: 5.4
Severity: LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
Description

A DOM-based Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists in the DomainCheckerApp class within domain/script.js of Sourcecodester Domain Availability Checker v1.0. The vulnerability occurs because the application improperly handles user-supplied data in the createResultElement method by using the unsafe innerHTML property to render domain search results.

Description

A Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability exists in Sourcecodester Modern Image Gallery App v1.0 within the gallery/upload.php component. The application fails to properly validate uploaded file contents. Additionally, the application preserves the user-supplied file extension during the save process. This allows an unauthenticated attacker to upload arbitrary PHP code by spoofing the MIME type as an image, leading to full system compromise.

Description

A UNIX symbolic link following issue in the jailer component in Firecracker version v1.13.1 and earlier and 1.14.0 on Linux may allow a local host user with write access to the pre-created jailer directories to overwrite arbitrary host files via a symlink attack during the initialization copy at jailer startup, if the jailer is executed with root privileges. To mitigate this issue, users should upgrade to version v1.13.2 or 1.14.1 or above.

Risk Information
cvss3
Base: 6.0
Severity: LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
cvss4
Base: 6.0
Severity: LOW
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:H/SA:H/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

An information disclosure vulnerability exists in the /srvs/membersrv/getCashiers endpoint of the Aptsys gemscms backend platform thru 2025-05-28. This unauthenticated endpoint returns a list of cashier accounts, including names, email addresses, usernames, and passwords hashed using MD5. As MD5 is a broken cryptographic function, the hashes can be easily reversed using public tools, exposing user credentials in plaintext. This allows remote attackers to perform unauthorized logins and potentially gain access to sensitive POS operations or backend functions.