Communications

June 12, 2025

A cyberattack compromised email accounts of several Washington Post journalists. The attack is believed to have been carried out by a foreign government. The incident was discovered on Thursday evening. An internal memo, signed by Executive Editor Matt Murray, informed employees that Microsoft accounts of a limited number of journalists were affected. Internal sources told The Wall Street Journal that the attack targeted journalists writing on national security and economic policy topics, as well as some who write about China.

Washington Post has not shared publicly any details about the attack.

February 3, 2025

Nearly 40,000 people had their Social Security numbers exposed during a cyberattack in February on Lee Enterprises. The company is one of the largest owners of local newspapers in the U.S. In addition, Lee Enterprises newsrooms across the United States reported that the attack triggered a systems outage. The outage forced the publisher to shutdown many of its networks. The shutdown lead to widespread printing and delivery disruptions for dozens of newspapers.

BleepingComputer reported the outage had caused significant issues, including corporate VPNs being down and lost access to internal systems and cloud storage. A week later, the company submitted a filing with the SEC revealing that it got hit by ransomware. Qilin ransomware gang claimed to have stolen 120,000 documents totaling 350 GB in size and threatened to release them all on March 5.

MAY 2025 UPDATE: The newspaper chain said the attack will have lingering impacts on its balance sheet, and its lender waived certain payments. Lee Enterprises said it incurred $2 million in restoration costs.

May 14, 2025

Wisconsin wireless provider Cellcom has confirmed that a cyberattack is responsible for the widespread service outage and disruptions that began on the evening of May 14, 2025. The incident disrupted voice and SMS services for customers across Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, leaving subscribers unable to make phone calls or send text messages. Cellcom began partial service restoration on May 19, allowing calls and texts between Cellcom users to resume and voice services gradually returning as recovery progressed.

February 13, 2025

Media conglomerate Urban One reported a data breach involving the personal information of employees and more. The Maryland-based media company said the cyberattack began on February 13 and was initiated through “a sophisticated social engineering campaign.” The hackers were able to exfiltrate company data. The company only discovered the incident on March 15. The incident did not impact the company’s operations.

Names, addresses, Social Security numbers, direct deposit information and W-2 information was taken during the attack. 355 people in Texas were affected. The attack on Urban One was claimed by the Cactus ransomware gang on March 12.

March 2, 2025

On March 2, 2025, Cablevision, a subsidiary of Bell providing internet and cable television services, became the target of a “cybersecurity incident.” The incident disrupted the company’s operations and affected its customers. The company’s website, which is currently inaccessible, displays a message explaining that a system outage is affecting its computer systems. As a result, customers are unable to access their accounts, place orders, or manage billing-related tasks. Cablevision has acknowledged the issue and assured that they have taken swift action to secure the affected system. They are currently investigating the incident and working towards restoring their systems and operations.