Sinclair Broadcast Group confirms that the media company was impacted over the weekend by a ransomware attack, saying some operations were affected and data was stolen from its network.
Sinclair is one of the largest owners of television stations in the U.S. and several of its stations went down on Sunday, leading reporters to take to social media to explain they were experiencing technical issues. The company released further details on Monday regarding what it called a cybersecurity incident, which began investigating on Friday. The company noted it had identified that certain servers and workstations in its environment were affected with ransomware, and that certain offices and operational networks were encrypted. Data was also lifted from Sinclair's network, the company said, adding that it was working to determine what information the data contained and will take other actions as appropriate based on its review. Last week, the White House held a virtual event that included some 30 countries to address ways to help counter the problem, saying ransomware payments hit $400 million worldwide in 2020 and surpassed $81 million in the first quarter of 2021.
Sinclair is not the only media company to suffer a ransomware attack in recent years either.
The Associated Press noted that another major media conglomerate, Cox Media Group, said recently that it was targeted in a similar episode earlier this year and the Weather Channel went off air following a ransomware attack in 2019.