Cyberattack hits Lee Enterprises harder than expected

Lee Enterprises, one of the largest newspaper publishers in the United States, expects that a recent cyberattack will most likely have a material impact on its operations.

Earlier this month, Lee Enterprises acknowledged that a ‘“cybersecurity event" caused outages at several newspapers and media outlets across the United States. A spokesperson confirmed that several core systems were offline because of the incident. Therefore, some newspapers couldn’t be printed and distributed.

In a recent quarterly report addressed to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the publishing company stated that the event didn’t cause any material impact. A February 12th 8-K Filing says otherwise.

Preliminary investigations indicate that a threat actor has unlawfully accessed the company’s corporate network, encrypted critical applications, and exfiltrated an unknown quantity of files.

“The incident impacted the company’s operations, including distribution of products, billing, collections, and vendor payments. Distribution of print publications across our portfolio of products experienced delays, and online operations were partially limited,” Lee Enterprises says.

The distribution of most newspapers resumed on February 12th. However, weekly and ancillary products have not been restored. The company anticipates that it will take several weeks before all operations are fully restored.

“While the full scope of the financial impact is not yet known, the incident is reasonably likely to have a material impact on the company’s financial condition or results of operations,” the publisher adds.

Forensic analysis is still being conducted to determine whether sensitive or personal information was compromised. While systems are being restored, Lee Enterprises has implemented temporary safety measures.

Law enforcement agencies, relevant federal and state regulatory bodies, and consumer protection agencies have been notified about the incident.

Lee Enterprises is the parent company of more than 70 daily newspapers in the United States and nearly 350 weekly and specialty publications, serving 72 markets in 25 states.