University of Pennsylvania Among Latest Oracle Clients Targeted by Clop Cyber Attacks: What You Need to Know

The University of Pennsylvania recently became part of a troubling trend involving data breaches linked to a notorious ransomware group. The incident, which took place earlier this year, targeted the Oracle E-Business Suite.

In a data breach notification filed in Maine, the university reported that nearly 1,500 residents were affected after an intrusion into its Oracle EBS environment lasted three days in August. The attack came to light only after Oracle acknowledged a critical vulnerability. Members of the Clop ransomware group sent out extortion emails to various organizations in late September, highlighting the breach.

The university confirmed on November 11 that some personal information was stolen during this incident but didn’t specify the details or the number of people impacted. In a statement, a university spokesperson noted that they were one of around 100 organizations affected by this security flaw in Oracle’s system. They assured that Penn had applied the necessary security patches from Oracle and found no evidence of the stolen information being misused or disclosed publicly.

Other Ivy League institutions, like Dartmouth and Harvard, also faced similar threats. Dartmouth confirmed that its Oracle EBS environment was compromised, exposing sensitive information such as names and Social Security numbers. Harvard mentioned it was investigating a breach that had affected a limited number of people within a specific administrative unit, asserting that broader systems were not compromised.

This wave of data breaches illustrates the risks tied to widely used interconnected systems. For example, Cox Enterprises reported that almost 10,000 individuals had their data compromised after an attack on its Oracle EBS. Similarly, Logitech noted that it was affected by the Oracle EBS vulnerabilities, although it believed that sensitive personal information was not involved.

The Clop group specializes in exploiting vulnerabilities in file-transfer services, leading to extensive data theft across multiple sectors. This year alone, they breached MOVEit environments, compromising over 2,300 organizations—the largest cyberattack recorded in 2023.

According to a recent study by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, nearly 43% of organizations reported a significant cyberattack in the last year, underscoring the rising threat landscape. As more institutions rely on complex systems, understanding these vulnerabilities is crucial for preventing future incidents.

For deeper insights, you can read the full report here.

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