Ransomware flattens networks of several major American newspapers

Last weekend, the printing works and deliveries of several large American newspapers came to a standstill. This is due to an attack that may have been carried out with the Ryuk-ransomware. The attack had an impact on, among others, printers of Tribune Publishing, one of the largest publishers of regional newspapers in the United States.

All the newspapers that are part of the tribunal house had to do with the attack. The printed Saturday editions of the Chicago Tribune, Lake County News-Sun, Post-Tribune and many other regional newspapers only appeared on Sundays and thinner than usual. That was because the newspapers had to deal with a ransomware attack that shut down their networks. As a result, the printing works did not function properly.

Major victims

The Ryuk-ransomware was first discovered by Check Point this summer. This reported that the ransomware is being used for targeted attacks on valuable targets. Cybercriminals are hoping to make money with companies that can’t afford to be offline. This makes them more inclined to transfer money.

One of the biggest victims of Ryuk is the Canadian restaurant chain Recipe Unlimited. Furthermore, Tribune Publishing would now also have become a victim. At the same time, a spokesman did not want to confirm that it was indeed related to a Ryuk infection. However, the spokesman confirmed that the incident originated from malware. The same spokesman said that the websites and mobile apps of his newspapers had nothing to do with the infection.

The papers haven’t been involved in data theft either. This means that the infection only shut down the networks, so no data was captured. At the moment, the US authorities are still investigating the attack, and are looking at where it comes from. It is suspected that they are hackers from outside the United States. If the malware is indeed Ryuk, it could be North Korean hackers.