Report the suspicion to your institution’s IT security or incident-response team right away—even if you cannot confirm that anyone gained access. Say that sensitive research may be involved and use the institution’s designated incident form, hotline, or help desk. If the threat is active, use its urgent reporting channel. If a device may be compromised, disconnect it from the network only if you can do so safely, leave it powered on, and follow the responders’ instructions.
1. Report the suspected attempt promptly
You do not need to prove that access succeeded before reporting it. The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security’s cyber incident reporting guidelines, first released January 29, 2026, include unauthorized attempts whether or not they succeed. Texas A&M University likewise asks its community to report suspicious activity and potential security issues, including suspected unauthorized access involving sensitive research data.
Contact your institution’s security incident-response team or IT help desk using its current reporting instructions. A general help desk can route a report to the right responders. Use the urgent channel if the activity appears ongoing, such as an active account takeover or an intrusion in progress. Describe what you observed and when; avoid guessing who is responsible or why they acted. Make clear that sensitive research may be at risk. Texas A&M’s incident-reporting page lists examples such as abnormal computer behavior, compromised credentials, suspicious email, unauthorized access, and inappropriately shared documents. Its contact routes are specific to that institution, so check your own institution’s current page rather than relying on another university’s contacts.
2. Handle a possibly compromised device cautiously
If a computer or server may be compromised, contact your institutional responders and follow their directions. If immediate network isolation is appropriate and you can do it safely, disconnect wired and wireless connections while leaving the device powered on. Do not disconnect specialized laboratory equipment, shared research infrastructure, or other systems if doing so could disrupt operations or create a safety risk; get responder guidance first.
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The University of Pennsylvania’s procedure for a compromised computer with sensitive data and Carnegie Mellon University’s procedure for reporting unauthorized release or access of data both advise isolating the affected system, keeping it in its existing powered-on state, and avoiding further interaction. These are institutional procedures, not a substitute for your own organization’s instructions.
3. Preserve what you observed and identify potentially exposed research
Write down a factual timeline while details are fresh. Record the time and sequence of events, messages or access notifications, affected accounts and systems, people involved, and any apparent impact. Note which sensitive research data was stored on or reachable through the affected device or account. UC San Diego’s computer security incident reporting guidance also asks reporters for observations, dates and times, people, places, and known impact.
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Preserve relevant logs and external backups from being overwritten, but do not create new backups or copy data unless the response team directs you. Do not send sensitive research to a personal email account, personal storage, or an unapproved service to collect or share evidence. Use approved institutional channels to provide the information responders request. Carnegie Mellon and Penn both emphasize preserving the system’s state and information that may help the investigation.
4. Do not try to clean up or investigate the system yourself
Unless the response team tells you otherwise, do not run antivirus or anti-malware software, remove suspected malware, scan the system, modify files, reboot or shut it down, reimage it, or conduct your own forensic investigation. Changes may destroy or alter information needed to establish what happened and what data was at risk. The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s data security incident guidance for IT administrators also advises minimizing changes and not shutting down, running antivirus, or backing up an affected system.
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Share your observations and context with incident handlers, then let them decide how to examine and contain the system. Penn and UC San Diego describe evidence preservation and risk assessment as part of the response team’s work.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.5. Consider research-security or other required escalation
A suspected attempt to obtain research may also involve sponsor requirements, export controls, privacy rules, classified information, or law enforcement. Coordinate through your institution’s security and, as applicable, research-security, export-control, privacy, or sponsor contacts. The right reporting duties depend on the institution, the information involved, funding terms, and jurisdiction.
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The U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center’s Safeguarding Academia guidance tells researchers to document and report security lapses and unauthorized behavior. It directs U.S. researchers who suspect foreign threat actors are targeting research to FBI reporting channels, and says cleared academic institutions should immediately contact their local Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency counterintelligence agent when they suspect targeting. Coordinate these steps with institutional security and follow applicable sponsor and classification rules; do not make assumptions about an actor’s identity based only on suspicion.
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Quick checklist
- Report the suspicion promptly through your institution’s incident channel; use its urgent route for an active threat.
- State that sensitive research may be involved, even if you do not know whether access succeeded.
- For a potentially compromised device, isolate it only if safe and appropriate, leave it powered on, and follow responder instructions.
- Record the timeline, systems and accounts involved, observed activity, apparent impact, and research data that may have been reachable.
- Do not run cleanup tools, reboot, shut down, scan, reimage, or independently investigate unless directed.
- Coordinate any research-security, sponsor, export-control, privacy, classified-information, or law-enforcement escalation through the appropriate institutional contacts.
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