The Washington Post is investigating a cyberattack that compromised some of its journalists’ email accounts. The intrusion, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, is suspected to have been carried out by a foreign government.
Cyberattack hits WaPo
According to a memo obtained by Reuters and written by the Post’s Executive Editor Matt Murray, the cyberattack was discovered Thursday, June 12, and targeted reporters covering topics including national security, economic policy and China.
“Although our investigation is ongoing, we believe the incident affected a limited number of Post journalists’ accounts, and we have contacted those whose accounts have been impacted,” Murray said. “We do not believe this unauthorized intrusion impacted any additional Post systems or has had any impact for our customers.”
How did WaPo respond?
In response to the breach, the Post issued a password reset for all employees Friday, June 13. The email accounts, the WSJ said, were managed by Microsoft. The tech company has not commented publicly on the breach.
It’s unclear how many journalists were affected and when the intrusion began.
A Post employee, who asked to remain anonymous, told Straight Arrow News that little is known inside the company outside of investigators and those affected.
The targeting of journalists, media orgs
Journalists are common targets for nation-state actors, who seek to unveil sources and stories prior to publication. A 2023 report from the cybersecurity firm Software Secured concluded that the media was the most vulnerable industry to cyberattacks.
News Corp, which owns media outlets including the WSJ, disclosed in 2022 that the accounts of a handful of reporters were compromised as part of a targeted cyberattack. David Wong, a director at the cybersecurity firm Mandiant, said that the hackers were “likely involved in espionage activities to collect intelligence to benefit China’s interests.”
Tech providers for newsrooms, such as Microsoft, are also frequent targets. In 2021, then-President Joe Biden accused China of hacking Microsoft’s Exchange email server, affecting tens of thousands of users.
