News Corp has disclosed a cyberattack in its filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, stating that the incident occurred in January. Following up on the filing, the Wall Street Journal, owned by News Corp, reported that the attack was identified on January 20. Employees at the newspaper, Dow Jones, the New York Post, the Company’s UK news outlet, and News Corp headquarters received a letter describing the attack.
Vice president David Wong of Mandiant ascribed the cyberattack to Chinese actors but did not present any proof to back up his claim. According to News Corp’s SEC filing, network and information systems, as well as other technologies related to the Company’s content delivery networks and network management, are critical to the Company’s business operations and contain proprietary, confidential, and sensitive business information, including personal data of its customers and employees.
“The Company also relies on third-party providers for certain technology and ‘cloud-based’ systems and services that support a variety of business operations. In January 2022, the Company discovered that one of these systems was the target of persistent cyberattack activity,” the Company stated.
The Company is investigating the circumstances of the activity with the help of an independent cybersecurity firm to identify its nature, breadth, duration, and impact. According to the Company’s preliminary investigation, foreign government participation may be linked to this action, and data was collected. The company’s systems that store customer and financial data were not impacted. It hasn’t experienced any problems with its commercial operations or systems thus far.
The Sun, Barron’s, The Australian, The Times Market Watch, and Realtor.com are all owned by News Corp, one of the world’s most influential news companies with operations in dozens of countries. Following a contentious story about Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s wealth, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times were hacked in 2013 by assailants presumably from China.
