Newspapers across the country owned by the news media company Lee Enterprises were unable to print, had problems with their websites and published smaller issues after a cyberattack last week, the company said.
In a statement emailed on Sunday, Lee Enterprises said that the company was facing disruptions to its daily operations because of a “cybersecurity event,” and that it had notified law enforcement.
Lee Enterprises is the parent company of more than 70 daily newspapers, such as The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and nearly 350 weekly and specialty publications in 25 states, including Alabama, New York and Oregon. The company did not say how the attack happened or who was behind it.
“We are now focused on determining what information — if any — may have been affected by the situation,” the company said. “We are working to complete this investigation as quickly and thoroughly as possible, but these types of investigations are complex and time-consuming, with many taking several weeks or longer to complete.”
Newspapers published by Lee Enterprises reported on the cyberattack and said that most of the problems began on Monday morning. Each newspaper included details about how the attack had stifled their operations. It was not clear if the issues had been resolved on Sunday.
The Daily Progress in Charlottesville, Va., and The La Crosse Tribune in La Crosse, Wis., both said on Friday that they had not been able to print newspapers since Monday.
The Press of Atlantic City in New Jersey said it had not printed a newspaper since Feb. 1 but was working to print and deliver back issues. All of the newspapers were still able to publish articles online, though some subscribers had problems gaining access to their accounts.
On Sunday, the websites for many Lee Enterprise newspapers, including The St. Louis Post-Dispatch in Missouri and The Casper Star-Tribune in Wyoming, had a banner on their home pages that said, “We are currently undergoing maintenance on some services, which may temporarily affect access to subscription accounts and the e-edition.”
The Omaha World-Herald said that it had not missed any days of publication, but that most of its editions published after the attack had modifications, such as smaller print editions or missing regular features.
The Buffalo News in New York said the attack caused it to delay delivery of the newspaper on Tuesday and forced it to publish smaller editions all week, with comics and puzzles in sections of the paper that were different from the usual.
“We’re sorry for the disruption this issue has caused for Buffalo News readers, and I assure you the print changes are temporary,” said the newspaper’s editor in chief, Margaret Kenny Giancola. “We have worked around the clock to ensure The News continues to deliver the strong local coverage readers expect from us, and we’re grateful for their patience this week.”
On Sunday, The News and Advance of Lynchburg, Va., published an article by its executive editor, Carrie Sidener, who thanked readers for their patience after the newspaper was “confronted with an unprecedented technical issue.”
She said the issue had caused problems with the newspaper’s production and had disabled its phone system. “Despite these roadblocks, our staff continues to produce exceptional journalism,” Ms. Sidener said.
Source: nytimes.com
