Washington Post Confirms Data Breach Linked to Oracle E-Business Suite Hacks

November 2025 — The Washington Post has confirmed it was impacted by a broader cyber campaign abusing Oracle E-Business Suite applications. The incident is part of an ongoing extortion wave attributed to a prolific ransomware outfit, with preliminary reports indicating the attackers targeted enterprise resource planning stacks used for HR, logistics, and supplier management.

What happened

Editors said the breach is tied to a campaign against Oracle’s enterprise apps. Threat actors have been exfiltrating internal business data and employee records from multiple organizations and then attempting public shaming to force payment. Early analysis suggests attackers chained multiple app-layer flaws and misconfigurations to gain access, aiming squarely at supply-chain data and back-office systems.

Why this matters

This is a classic supply-chain attack: instead of going after front-end websites, intruders targeted the systems that run finance, procurement, and HR. For media companies and any large enterprise running Oracle EBS, the blast radius can include contracts, vendor files, payroll details, and authentication secrets—making incident response and patch management urgent.

Risk and likely goals

Data breach exposure: business documents, PII, and internal communications are prime targets for extortion.
Lateral movement: footholds in EBS can pivot into identity systems and file shares if segmentation is weak.
Ransomware pressure: public leak sites and direct outreach to executives are used to force payment.

What security teams should do now

Patch & harden Oracle E-Business Suite per the latest advisories; remove public exposure where not strictly required.
Threat-hunt for anomalous admin logins, new SSO integrations, scheduled jobs, and data-export spikes.
Rotate credentials & secrets tied to EBS integrations (HR, finance, suppliers) and enforce least privilege.
Segment & monitor EBS from identity providers and file servers; enable detailed logging for API calls.
Review KEV-listed vulns & deadlines and prioritize patch SLAs across internet-facing apps.
Prepare disclosure: coordinate legal/PR playbooks, notify affected partners, and preserve forensics.

Bottom line: this attack wave underscores how quickly data breach risks escalate when ERP systems are exposed or unpatched. Treat EBS like crown-jewel infrastructure—lock down access, patch fast, and monitor continuously.