US media outlets hit by a malware attack

The major US newspapers including Los Angeles Times and several others owned by Tribune Publishing Co. such as Baltimore Sun and Chicago Tribune were attacked last weekend leading to disruptions in paper delivery.

According to the source familiar with the incident, the cyberattack affected the distribution of newspapers in Saturday edition of the Times, Sun, Tribune and some other. According to the details, the cyberattack was conducted from outside the US, Reuters reported.

The first malware was discovered on Friday by Tribune Publishing on its systems, the New York Times and the West Coast editions of Wall Street Journal were also affected by the malware because they use the same printing production platform in Los Angeles.

Financial data and personal details

Marisa Kollias, spokesperson of Tribune Publishing said, the financial data and personal details of its customers were remained in-accessed by the hackers, however, the back office systems that are mainly used for producing and publishing newspapers were disrupted.

Kollias said, “We didn’t find any evidence that customer personal data and credit card information was compromised.” However, the Department of Homeland Security is currently investigating the issue, according to the spokesperson Katie Waldman, “We are well aware of the reports of cyberattack affecting several media outlets, we are currently working with government and industry partners to investigate the issue.”