The Guardian Says Ransomware Attack Compromised Staff's Personal Data

Last month, The Guardian closed its offices after being hit by a "highly sophisticated" ransomware attack. In an update to staff, Guardian group chief Anna Bateson and newspaper editor-in-chief Katharine Viner said intruders were able to access the personal data of UK employees. Engadget reports: They described the incident as a "highly sophisticated cyber-attack involving unauthorised third-party access to parts of our network," most likely triggered by a "phishing" attempt in which the victim is tricked, often via email, into downloading malware. The Guardian said it had no reason to believe the personal data of readers and subscribers had been accessed. It is not believed that the personal data of Guardian US and Guardian Australia staff has been accessed either. However, the message to staff said there had been no evidence of data being exposed online, so the risk of fraud is considered to be low. The attack was detected on 20 December and affected parts of the company's technology infrastructure. Staff, most of whom have been working from home since the attack, have been able to maintain production of a daily newspaper, while online publishing has been unaffected. The Guardian has been using external experts to gauge the extent of the attack and to recover its systems. Although the Guardian expects some critical systems to be back up and running "within the next two weeks," a return to office working has been postponed until early February in order to allow IT staff to focus on network and system restoration.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.