How to Avoid Data Breaches in Oracle EBS: A Modern Security Playbook

In today’s threat landscape, mission-critical ERP systems remain prime targets for cyberattacks. With sensitive financial, HR, client, and operational data at stake, the exposure due to a security breach has never been higher.

The good news: most security breaches can be avoided by following proven security measures and keeping your environment current.

At Syntax, we’ve helped Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) customers around the world harden their systems against modern threats. Here’s our essential guide to keeping your Oracle EBS secure.

1. Follow Oracle’s Best Practices for Security

Oracle publishes a comprehensive and highly valuable Oracle EBS Security Guide and a MOS Note that covers DMZ configuration. This includes configuration recommendations and best practices approaches for security at all tiers of the stack, including the application itself:

• Password policy best practices configurations
• Role-based access controls (RBAC) and privileged account management
• Network segmentation, especially for DMZ modules
• Auditing and monitoring
• Securing DMZ-based modules

These baseline controls reduce the overall attack surface and should be reviewed at least annually. In particular, Internet-facing modules have specific architectural and management requirements that should be considered.

Syntax offers an Oracle EBS Security Assessment service that provides customers with a report and recommendations that are designed to assist customers in securing their environments based in part on these Oracle resources.

2. Apply the Latest Oracle Security Patches

Oracle’s Critical Patch Updates (CPUs) are released quarterly to address newly discovered vulnerabilities. Threat actors monitor these updates, making unpatched systems an easy target.

Recommended Actions:

• Subscribe to Oracle CPU advisories.
• Test and deploy these patches in your environment as soon as possible following their release.

If you aren’t on Oracle Support or are on an older release of EBS Suite, read on for additional actions you can take to secure your environment.

3. Upgrade to the Latest Release and Get Supported

Legacy versions of Oracle EBS are harder and more expensive to secure. If you’re not on Oracle Premier Support, whether that’s because it’s not offered or because you’ve moved to a third-party support provider, you may not have access to new security fixes.

Recommended Actions:

• If you’re EBS 12.2, ensure you’re above the minimum baseline (12.2.7+) and have deployed the latest tech stack patches to ensure you receive full security coverage.
• If you’re on EBS 12.1 or lower, consider a technical upgrade to 12.2 that minimizes business impact and focuses on the EBS tech stack, reducing the cost of the effort and the impact on end-users.

If you’re no longer on Oracle Support (either unsupported or on third-party support), Syntax can help you get support reinstated and get you back on track and help you justify an upgrade or support reinstatement.

4. Implement Single Sign-On with Oracle Identity & Access Management

Oracle Identity and Access Management (IAM) provides centralized authentication and authorization with support for Single Sign-On (SSO).

Benefits:

• Simplifies user management and user access.
• Integrates with technologies like Microsoft EntraID, Ping, and Okta.
• Allows organization to extend Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) to ERP.

A key area of vulnerability is compromised e-mail accounts. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) greatly reduces the risk of these types of compromises.  Syntax offers a cost-effective implementation and operation of this solution. We can implement this solution for its customers for under ~$15K and ongoing operating costs are typically in the hundreds of dollars a month.

5. Deploy an Oracle EBS URL Firewall and Web Application Firewall (WAF)

A URL Firewall restricts access to specific EBS functions based on roles and authorized URLs, while a WAF adds an extra perimeter security layer, inspecting HTTP/S requests for malicious activity before they hit Oracle EBS.

Benefits:

• Prevents direct browsing to sensitive functions.
• Stops attacks targeting unused features.
• Protects against SQL Injection, XSS, and OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities.
• Can block traffic based on IP, geolocation, or request patterns.

It’s important to understand that these technologies should be audited and integrated with SIEM or other technologies.

You should also be using vulnerability management and endpoint detection and response solutions, which are services that Syntax provides by default for our managed services customers.

6. Engage Syntax for an Oracle EBS Security Assessment or 24 x 7 SOC Services

Even with in-house teams, independent security reviews can be highly effective in uncovering gaps and exposures in your environment. Our Oracle EBS Security Assessments deliver:

• Detailed review of EBS security setups based on Oracle best practices.
• Vulnerability scans.
• Patch-compliance checks.
• Access controls review.
• Recommendations for hardening configurations.

As a Managed Security Services Provider, Syntax leverages its deep Oracle EBS expertise with a comprehensive defense-in-depth approach to help you identify and close the gaps before attackers can exploit them.  In fact, many customers use Syntax as their primary MSSP, benefiting from vulnerability management, managed detection and response, threat intelligence, and more, all backed by our 24 x 7, SOC 2 Type 2-certified Security Operations Center (SOC).

Minimize Risk and Secure Your Oracle EBS

Cyber threats evolve daily, but so can your defenses. Applying patches promptly, upgrading releases, following Oracle’s best practices, implementing IAM and WAF solutions, and partnering with experienced providers like Syntax can mean the difference between resilience and a costly security breach.

Contact Syntax today at [email protected] or through our online contact page to schedule your Oracle EBS Security Assessment and start building your defense strategy.