{
  "id": "2013-12-16-harvard-university-bomb-threat",
  "slug": "harvard-university-bomb-threat-2013-12-16",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Harvard University",
    "shortName": "Harvard",
    "state": "MA",
    "type": "private-r1",
    "alertSystemName": "MessageMe",
    "enrollment": 21000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2013-12-16",
    "type": "bomb-threat",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "headline": "Emailed bomb threats evacuated four buildings during finals; a student admitted the hoax",
    "headlinePublic": "Emailed bomb threats evacuated four buildings during finals; a student admitted the hoax",
    "summary": "Sophomore Eldo Kim emailed bomb threats at approximately 8:30 a.m. EST claiming \"shrapnel bombs\" were placed in four campus buildings, [triggering a six-hour evacuation](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/12/16/unconfirmed-reports-explosives-four-buildings/) during final exams. The FBI [identified Kim within hours](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/12/18/255198081/student-is-charged-in-harvard-bomb-scare) by cross-referencing Tor network usage on Harvard's Wi-Fi with the anonymous email service Guerrilla Mail.",
    "outcome": "Kim confessed to the FBI on the evening of December 16. He was charged with making a hoax bomb threat, entered a pretrial diversion program with 750 hours of community service, four months of home confinement, and restitution to law enforcement agencies.",
    "resolution": "confirmed-hoax"
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestamp": "2013-12-16T09:02:00-05:00",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "Unconfirmed reports of explosives at four sites on campus: Science Center, Thayer, Sever, and Emerson. Please evacuate those buildings now.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/12/16/251603060/harvard-responds-to-unconfirmed-reports-about-explosives",
      "sourceDescription": "NPR reporting that quotes the verbatim Harvard MessageMe alert",
      "annotations": [
        "First MessageMe alert sent at 9:02 a.m. EST on December 16, 2013, approximately 30 minutes after the threatening emails were sent at 8:30 a.m. EST",
        "Buildings listed in a different order than the alphabetical/geographic ordering (Science Center first, then Thayer, Sever, and Emerson) likely reflecting the order in which the threats named them",
        "The four buildings were chosen because Kim had a final exam scheduled in Emerson Hall that morning",
        "'Unconfirmed reports': Harvard signals epistemic uncertainty in the alert itself, a notable transparency choice for an evacuation directive"
      ],
      "characterCount": 139
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "update",
      "timestamp": "2013-12-16T09:13:00-05:00",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "Harvard Alert-HUPD and CPD are on the scene and investigating. Please stand by for more info.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/12/16/251603060/harvard-responds-to-unconfirmed-reports-about-explosives",
      "sourceDescription": "NPR reporting that quotes the verbatim Harvard MessageMe follow-up alert",
      "annotations": [
        "Sent 11 minutes after the initial alert at 9:13 a.m. EST on December 16, 2013",
        "'CPD' is Cambridge Police Department; 'HUPD' is Harvard University Police Department; Harvard's MessageMe uses local acronyms without expansion",
        "'Please stand by for more info' is a deliberate brevity tactic appropriate for SMS",
        "94-character message respects SMS standards much more strictly than the initial 139-character evacuation alert"
      ],
      "characterCount": 93
    },
    {
      "sequence": 3,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestampApprox": "Shortly before 3:00 PM EST on December 16, 2013",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceDescription": "Harvard Crimson and CNN reporting",
      "annotations": []
    }
  ],
  "context": "On the morning of December 16, 2013, during Harvard's final exam period, sophomore [Eldo Kim sent anonymous emails](https://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/17/justice/massachusetts-harvard-hoax) to the Harvard University Police Department, the Harvard Crimson student newspaper, and other campus offices with the subject line \"bombs placed around campus.\" The emails claimed \"shrapnel bombs\" had been placed in [four buildings: the Science Center, Sever Hall, Emerson Hall, and Thayer Hall](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/12/16/unconfirmed-reports-explosives-four-buildings/). Kim used the Tor anonymizing browser and the disposable email service Guerrilla Mail to send the threats. However, the [FBI was able to identify him](https://www.nbcnews.com/technolog/failing-grade-alleged-harvard-bomb-hoaxer-needed-more-tor-cover-2d11767028) by obtaining records showing which Harvard network users had accessed Tor in the hours before the emails were sent. When interviewed that evening, Kim admitted he sent the threats because he wanted to avoid taking a final exam. The case became a widely cited example of how anonymity tools can fail when used on an institutional network that logs connections. Kim ultimately entered a [pretrial diversion program](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/10/11/eldo-kim-charged-diversion/) rather than facing the maximum penalty of five years in prison.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "Kim's use of Tor on Harvard's Wi-Fi network was his undoing; the university's network logs showed he was one of the few users accessing Tor in the hours before the threats, allowing the FBI to quickly narrow the suspect pool",
    "The 32-minute gap between the threatening email (8:30 a.m. EST) and the first campus alert (9:02 a.m. EST) was relatively fast for 2013-era emergency notification systems",
    "The six-hour building closure during finals week disrupted exams for hundreds of students, exactly the outcome Kim intended",
    "The case prompted national discussion about the limitations of online anonymity tools and the severity of bomb hoax consequences"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Six-Hour Bomb Scare Proves Unfounded - The Harvard Crimson",
      "url": "https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/12/16/unconfirmed-reports-explosives-four-buildings/",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "Harvard student Eldo Kim charged in final-exam bomb hoax - CNN",
      "url": "https://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/17/justice/massachusetts-harvard-hoax",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Student Is Charged In Harvard Bomb Scare - NPR",
      "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/12/18/255198081/student-is-charged-in-harvard-bomb-scare",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Failing grade: Alleged Harvard bomb hoaxer needed more than Tor - NBC News",
      "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/technolog/failing-grade-alleged-harvard-bomb-hoaxer-needed-more-tor-cover-2d11767028",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Eldo Kim Charged in Bomb Threat Case, Unlikely To Get Jail Time - The Harvard Crimson",
      "url": "https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/10/11/eldo-kim-charged-diversion/",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "NPR reporting that quotes the verbatim Harvard MessageMe alert",
      "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/12/16/251603060/harvard-responds-to-unconfirmed-reports-about-explosives",
      "type": "other"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "bomb-threat",
    "hoax",
    "finals-week",
    "tor-anonymity",
    "fbi",
    "ivy-league",
    "massachusetts",
    "student-perpetrator"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-02",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-16",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}