Source inside Tribune Publishing says printing outage caused by Ryuk ransomware infection
The Ryuk ransomware strain is the primary suspect in a cyberattack that caused printing and delivery disruptions for several major US newspapers over the weekend.
Catalin Cimpanu By
The attack reportedly affected printing centers operated by Tribune Publishing and former Tribune Publishing property, the Los Angeles Times.
All Tribune Publishing newspapers were impacted to some degree by the cyber-attack.
The print editions of the Chicago Tribune, Lake County News-Sun, Post-Tribune, Hartford Courant, Baltimore Sun, Capital Gazette, and Carroll County Times were published Saturday without paid death notices and classified ads, according to the Chicago Tribune, Hartford Courant, and Baltimore Sun.
In other markets a similarly slimmed-down version of the Saturday newspaper will be delivered a day late, on Sunday, the three newspapers also reported.
Former Tribune Publishing west coast newspapers the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union Tribune —sold earlier this year, in February— suffered similar outages.
“The attack delayed distribution of Saturday editions of the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union Tribune,” the LA Times said on Saturday.
“It also stymied distribution of the West Coast editions of the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, which are printed at the Los Angeles Times’ Olympic printing plant in downtown Los Angeles,” the newspaper added.
The LA Times cited an inside source at its former mother company who claimed the printing outage was caused by an infection with the Ryuk ransomware.
