The attacks hampered the newspapers’ print operation, and the newspaper was forced to shut down its newsroom until at least Tuesday so that its employees could cover an expensive and highly competitive mayoral race.
"The incident was the greatest publication disruption to Pennsylvania's largest news organization since the blizzard of Jan. 7-8, 1996, and it came just days before Tuesday's mayoral primary election," the Inquirer's Jonathan Lai said.
Lisa Hughes, spokesperson for The Philadelphia Inquirer stated "We appreciate everyone's patience and understanding as we work to fully restore systems and complete this investigation as soon as possible[…]We will keep our employees and readers informed as we learn more."
Reportedly, on Thursday, the newspaper discovered “anomalous activities” on select computer systems. The systems were taken down immediately.
Following the attacks, the regular Sunday newspapers could not be published. Instead, a Sunday "early edition," which went to press on Friday evening, was delivered to print subscribers. The newspaper stated on Sunday that it was "sometimes slower than normal" to upload and update content on its website, Inquirer.com.
Inquirer to Notify Potentially Affected Subscribers
The Inquirer has also contacted the FBI regarding the cyber intrusion and hired Kroll to help with the investigation and response.
While Hughes was unable to provide information about what was included in the attacks or they gained access to customers' or employees' sensitive information, she confirms that the newspaper would inform those who might have had their data impacted in the incident.
Nearly 200 years after it was first published in 1829, The Philadelphia Inquirer today reaches a rising readership of over 13 million people each month through its newspaper, e-paper, and other platforms.
Moreover, it was also revealed by News Corporation, a mass media and publishing giant and owner of the New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, MarketWatch, Fox News, Barron's, The Sun, and the News UK, that in February 2023 that Chinese-linked attackers had access to its network between February 2020 and January 2022.
Apparently, the attackers had access to an email and document storage system used by a number of News Corp businesses. As a result, they gained access to emails and business documents containing sensitive data, including employees' personal information.