"The Philadelphia Inquirer Suffers Cyberattack, Newspaper's Largest Disruption in Nearly 30 Years"
The Philadelphia Inquirer recently reported a cyberattack that disrupted newspaper operations, the biggest disruption to its publications since a massive blizzard in 1996. The cyberattack prevented the newspaper from being able to print the Sunday edition of the newspaper. The company stated that its website remained functional for posting and updating articles, although it was slower than normal. Publisher Lisa Hughes said they could not provide an exact timeline for the full restoration of newspaper operations. The cyberattack came just days before Tuesday's mayoral election. Hughes said employees will not be allowed to use offices through at least Tuesday because of the disruptions, meaning the newsroom would not be available to reporters on election night. Hughes said the FBI was notified of the cyberattack. The FBI's Philadelphia office said it was aware of the attack but declined to comment further. It is unclear when the cyberattack began, but Hughes said the news organization was "first alerted to the anomalous activity" on Thursday by Cynet, a vendor that manages the outlet's network security. Publication continued without disruption on Thursday and Friday. Employees first detected disruptions Saturday morning when they discovered that the newspaper's content-management system was not working.