Story perspectives

FBI Fires Accenture Contractor After PeopleSoft Flaw Breach

By Drooid · Oct 6, 2026, 4:49 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

FBI Removes Contractor

The FBI removed an Accenture contractor after a missed security patch caused a data breach.
The breach exposed names, addresses, Social Security numbers and medical records of thousands of staff.
FBI cyber chief Brett Leatherman said the contractor missed a required patch.
ShinyHunters claimed they exploited Oracle’s CVE-2026-35273 PeopleSoft flaw to access the FBI jobs site.
A ShinyHunters suspect detained in Jordan is reportedly cooperating with investigators.

Summary

ShinyHunters Demand Fix

ShinyHunters claimed the breach retaliated against a May FBI advisory and demanded its correction before stopping attacks.
The group previously exploited another PeopleSoft vulnerability in May-June, targeting mainly academic institutions.
Mandiant reported the hackers bypassed the web-application firewall using a URL-encoding trick on CVE-2026-35273.
The FBI said it is working with partners to pursue leads and expects additional arrests.
Oracle declined to comment on the breach when contacted by Reuters.

History

Historical Context

Between May and July 2017 Equifax failed to patch a known Apache Struts flaw, letting hackers steal data on 147.9 million Americans before the breach was disclosed on September 7, 2017. The fallout led to a $575 million FTC settlement and stricter breach-notification laws. Today the FBI’s probe of ShinyHunters exploiting Oracle’s PeopleSoft CVE-2026-35273 echoes that same neglect of critical updates.

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FBI Removes Contractor

The FBI removed an Accenture contractor after a missed security patch caused a data breach.
The breach exposed names, addresses, Social Security numbers and medical records of thousands of staff.
FBI cyber chief Brett Leatherman said the contractor missed a required patch.
ShinyHunters claimed they exploited Oracle’s CVE-2026-35273 PeopleSoft flaw to access the FBI jobs site.
A ShinyHunters suspect detained in Jordan is reportedly cooperating with investigators.

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