The Guardian newspaper hit by a suspected ransomware attack

Hackers strike again. This time, their latest victim is The Guardian, a British daily newspaper founded about two centuries ago. Today, the Guardian confirmed its systems have been hit by a “serious IT incident,” which it believes is likely a ransomware attack.

The incident was first reported by its media editor. The newspaper said that the incident began late on Tuesday and has affected parts of the company’s technology infrastructure.

“There has been a serious incident which has affected our IT network and systems in the last 24 hours,” Guardian Media Group chief executive Anna Bateson and editor-in-chief Katharine Viner said in a note to employees: “We believe this to be a ransomware attack but are continuing to consider all possibilities.”

The newspaper said it’s experiencing disruption to “behind the scenes” services, and asked employees to work from home. In a statement, Guardian Media Group chief executive, Anna Bateson, and editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner, told staff: “As everyone knows, there has been a serious incident which has affected our IT network and systems in the last 24 hours. We believe this to be a ransomware attack but are continuing to consider all possibilities.”

She added: “We are continuing to publish globally to our website and apps and although some of our internal systems are affected, we are confident we will be able to publish in print tomorrow. Our technology teams have been working to deal with all aspects of this incident, with the vast majority of our staff able to work from home as we did during the pandemic.

“We will continue to keep our staff and anyone else affected informed. We will update everyone again at the end of the day. With a few key exceptions we would like everyone to work from home for the remainder of the week unless we notify you otherwise.”

Cyberattacks are on the rise across all industries in recent months. And while hacking methods have evolved over the years, cybersecurity experts found that hackers continue to exploit browser vulnerabilities and leverage some of their most tried-and-true tactics— phishing and ransomware, among others.

Ransomware attacks have always been a frightening possibility for businesses, both large and small. In seconds, your whole business could be shut down with crucial information withheld for a hefty fee. According to the McAfee Labs Threats Report: August 2019, ransomware grew by 118% in the just first quarter of 2019 alone and new ransomware families were detected along with sophisticated techniques.