University of Phoenix added to Oracle EBS breach toll

The University of Phoenix has disclosed the theft of information from numerous individuals following the widespread Oracle E-Business Suite hack conducted by the Clop ransomware group, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.

Unauthorized access to its systems in August allowed the theft of individuals' names, birthdates, Social Security numbers, contact details, and bank account and routing numbers, said the university in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this week. More details on the number of people affected by the incident were not provided but the University of Phoenix emphasized that its parent firm's cyberinsurance coverage will be used for incident response and remediation efforts.

Such a disclosure from the University of Phoenix comes just a day after the University of Pennsylvania confirmed being impacted by the sweeping Oracle EBS breach. Harvard University and Dartmouth College have already reported victimization from the same attack.

"Higher-education institutions were never built to function as full-scale cyber defense operations, yet they are expected to protect research, students, employees, and operational data from both known and unknown threats," said Deep Instinct Chief Information Officer Carl Froggett.