Lee Enterprises, a major player in newspaper publishing, has reported that a lingering cyberattack is causing operational disruptions, now extending into its third week.
In a report submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Lee Enterprises stated that it is performing a forensic analysis to assess whether any sensitive or personal information was compromised during the cyberattack.
“Initial investigations suggest that unauthorized individuals gained access to the Company’s network, encrypted essential applications, and transferred certain files without authorization,” Lee stated in their report, characterizing the incident as a ransomware attack.
Lee Enterprises expects that these disruptions will continue for several additional weeks as the company works to restore impacted systems. The company has informed law enforcement authorities of the breach.
“The incident has affected various Company operations, including product distribution, billing, collection, and vendor payments. The delivery of print publications across our portfolio has faced delays, and online functionalities have been partially restricted,” the company elaborated in the filing.
Tracy Rouch, a representative for Lee Enterprises, did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
As one of the largest newspaper publishers in the United States, Lee Enterprises serves 72 publications nationwide with publishing and website services.
On February 3, Lee notified impacted media outlets that one of its data centers, which hosts applications and services utilized by both Lee and its clients, was “down.” This was revealed in an email from Lee CEO Kevin Mowbray, which was reviewed by TechCrunch.
Lee later indicated that its clients were unable to log in or access essential business applications.
Multiple publications under Lee’s ownership continue to experience interruptions to their regular printing operations. The Winston-Salem Journal, operating in North Carolina, reported that these disruptions hindered the printing of several editions. Similarly, two newspapers based in Oregon, the Albany Democrat-Herald and the Corvallis Gazette-Times, faced related issues preventing the publication of at least two editions until the weekend.
Other publications managed by Lee display notifications on their websites indicating they are “currently undergoing maintenance on some services, potentially affecting access to subscription accounts and the E-edition.”
The Freedom of the Press Foundation has compiled an ongoing list of affected outlets.
Lee stated that this incident is “reasonably likely” to have a significant impact on the company’s financial performance.
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Compiled by Techarena.au.
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