The Lapsus$ ransomware group has compromised and is actively extorting Impresa, Portugal's largest media conglomerate and owner of SIC and Expresso, the country's leading TV channel and a weekly newspaper, respectively. The attack occurred during the New Year's holiday and targeted the company's online IT server infrastructure. Impresa, Expresso, and all SIC TV channels' websites are presently offline. National airwave and cable TV broadcasts are unaffected, however, the attack has disabled SIC's internet streaming capability.
Both the Expresso newspaper and the SIC TV station stated that they had reported the incident to the PJ criminal investigation police agency and the National Cybersecurity Centre (CNCS) and would file a complaint. The claimed hackers posted a message on the websites threatening to reveal internal data if the media firm did not pay a ransom. The message includes contact information for e-mail and Telegram.
The Lapsus$ group claimed responsibility for the attack by displaying a ransom letter on all of Impresa's websites. In addition to a ransom demand, the message says that the organization has gained access to Impresa's Amazon Web Services account. When all of the sites were put into maintenance mode on Monday, Impresa workers looked to have regained control of this account, but the attackers promptly tweeted using Expresso's verified Twitter account to demonstrate that they still had access to company resources.
Lino Santos, CNCS's coordinator, informed the Observador newspaper that this was the group's first attack in the country. In the meantime, both media outlets are disseminating news pieces via their social media networks. It was an "unprecedented attack on press freedom in the digital age," they said.
The Impresa hack is among the most significant cybersecurity events in Portugal's history. Impresa is by far the largest media group in the country. According to September 2021 TV ratings, SIC and all of its secondary channels lead the TV market, while Expresso has the highest weekly periodical circulation numbers. Nonetheless, Impresa owns a slew of other media organizations and periodicals, all of which are likely to be impacted by the attack.
Before the Impresa attack, the Lapsus$ group hacked and ransomed the Ministry of Health of Brazil, as well as Claro and Embratel, two South American telecommunications firms. This is the second ransom attack on a media conglomerate during the holiday season, following the Ryuk gang's December 2018 attack on Tribune Publishing, owner of the Los Angeles Times.
