In an emerging twist to the ongoing issue of cyberattacks against businesses, a former employee of the Washington Post has taken legal action against the media giant, accusing the company of failing to safeguard the personal data of its staff. This marks an important shift in the ongoing trend of businesses being sued for data leaks—not only by consumers or current employees, but also by those who have left the company.
The plaintiff, Jun Hee Kim, who worked at the Washington Post between 2018 and 2019, is now suing the company after a major data breach exposed the personal details of more than 9,700 current and former employees. The breach also affected high-profile individuals, including John Bolton, former National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump, whose private data was compromised in the attack.
The Breach: A Deeper Look at the Attack
The breach itself occurred through a sophisticated attack involving the Clop ransomware gang, which is known for exploiting vulnerabilities in enterprise software. The hackers specifically targeted a zero-day flaw in Oracle’s E-Business Suite (EBS)—a comprehensive software used by organizations to manage various business operations, such as financial records, human resources, supply chain logistics, and customer relationship management (CRM).
Clop, notorious for its ransomware campaigns, exploited this vulnerability to infiltrate Washington Post’s systems, gaining access to sensitive employee data, including personal identifie
TPRM report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/washington-post-intelligence
"id": "was1765181094",
"linkid": "washington-post-intelligence",
"type": "Ransomware",
"date": "2025-12-08T00:00:00.000Z",
"severity": "85",
"impact": "3",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with internal employee data leaks"{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': '9,700+ current and '
'former employees',
'industry': 'Media/News',
'location': 'United States',
'name': 'The Washington Post',
'size': None,
'type': 'Media Organization'}],
'attack_vector': 'Exploitation of zero-day vulnerability in '
'Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS)',
'data_breach': {'data_encryption': None,
'data_exfiltration': None,
'file_types_exposed': None,
'number_of_records_exposed': '9,700+',
'personally_identifiable_information': 'Yes',
'sensitivity_of_data': 'High',
'type_of_data_compromised': 'Personal '
'identifiable '
'information (PII)'},
'description': 'A former employee of the Washington Post, Jun '
'Hee Kim, has filed a lawsuit against the company '
'for failing to safeguard personal data of its '
'staff after a major data breach exposed the '
'personal details of over 9,700 current and '
'former employees, including high-profile '
'individuals like John Bolton.',
'impact': {'brand_reputation_impact': None,
'conversion_rate_impact': None,
'customer_complaints': None,
'data_compromised': 'Personal details of employees '
'and high-profile individuals',
'downtime': None,
'financial_loss': None,
'identity_theft_risk': 'High',
'legal_liabilities': 'Lawsuit filed by former '
'employee',
'operational_impact': None,
'payment_information_risk': None,
'revenue_loss': None,
'systems_affected': 'Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS)'},
'initial_access_broker': {'backdoors_established': None,
'data_sold_on_dark_web': None,
'entry_point': None,
'high_value_targets': None,
'reconnaissance_period': None},
'post_incident_analysis': {'corrective_actions': None,
'root_causes': 'Failure to patch '
'zero-day '
'vulnerability in '
'Oracle E-Business '
'Suite (EBS)'},
'ransomware': {'data_encryption': None,
'data_exfiltration': 'Likely',
'ransom_demanded': None,
'ransom_paid': None,
'ransomware_strain': 'Clop'},
'references': [{'date_accessed': None,
'source': 'Cyber Incident Description',
'url': None}],
'regulatory_compliance': {'fines_imposed': None,
'legal_actions': 'Lawsuit filed by '
'former employee',
'regulations_violated': None,
'regulatory_notifications': None},
'response': {'adaptive_behavioral_waf': None,
'communication_strategy': None,
'containment_measures': None,
'enhanced_monitoring': None,
'incident_response_plan_activated': None,
'law_enforcement_notified': None,
'network_segmentation': None,
'on_demand_scrubbing_services': None,
'recovery_measures': None,
'remediation_measures': None,
'third_party_assistance': None},
'threat_actor': 'Clop ransomware gang',
'title': 'Washington Post Data Breach Lawsuit by Former Employee',
'type': 'Data Breach',
'vulnerability_exploited': 'Zero-day flaw in Oracle E-Business '
'Suite (EBS)'}