Hackers Targeted News Corp’s Tech Suppliers
Hackers with suspected links to China targeted
third-party technology suppliers, according to a company filing.
News Corp, which owns the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal parent Dow Jones, said it was the target of a hack that accessed emails and documents of journalists and other employees.
The company in a securities filing on Friday said it “relies on third-party providers for certain technology and ‘cloud-based’ systems and services that support a variety of business operations,” and that one of these systems “was the target of persistent cyberattack activity.”
The attack came as U.S. officials over the past year have been increasingly warning of criminal and nation-state hackers breaking into the computer systems of organizations through sometimes opaque supply chains for software and other technologies.
A News Corp spokesman on Friday declined to comment on its vendors or which data was stolen, citing a continuing investigation. In its email to staff, News Corp said that computer systems housing consumer and financial data weren’t affected.
“In addition, we have not experienced related interruptions to our business operations,” Chief Technology Officer David Kline and Chief Information Security Officer Billy O’Brien wrote in the email. “Based on our investigation to date, we believe the threat activity is contained.”
Messrs. Kline and O’Brien said their inquiry is in its early stages.
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that hackers had access to News Corp’s systems since at least February 2020, gaining access to emails and Google Docs, including drafts of articles. Beijing that year expelled U.S. journalists…
