Washington Post confirms cyber breach linked to Oracle's software
What's the story
The Washington Post has confirmed that it is a victim of a major cyber breach linked to Oracle's suite of corporate software applications. The newspaper issued a statement saying it was affected "by the breach of the Oracle E-Business Suite platform." The confirmation comes after CL0P, a notorious ransomware group, claimed on its website that The Washington Post was among its victims.
Ransomware group's claim
CL0P ransomware group behind cyber attack
The CL0P ransomware group is notorious for publicizing their victims in a bid to coerce them into paying extortion fees. They are suspected to be behind a large-scale cybercriminal operation targeting Oracle's E-Business Suite of applications. These apps are used by Oracle clients for managing various business processes, including customer and supplier relations, manufacturing, logistics. Google revealed last month that over 100 companies may have been affected by these breaches.
Cybersecurity alerts
Oracle's response to breach
In response to the cyber breach, Oracle directed to two security advisories it had issued last month. These advisories were likely aimed at alerting clients about potential vulnerabilities in its E-Business Suite software. The warnings came after Google's revelation that the ransomware gang CL0P was targeting companies by exploiting multiple vulnerabilities in Oracle's software.
Ransom demands
Hacking campaign and ransom demands
The hacking campaign by CL0P began in late September, with corporate executives reporting extortion messages from email addresses associated with the group. These messages claimed that sensitive internal business data and personal information of employees had been stolen from hacked Oracle systems. Anti-ransomware firm Halcyon revealed that the hackers demanded a $50 million ransom payment from one executive at an affected company.