The News Corp. empire, a staunchly conservative media powerhouse, recently revealed that hackers had infiltrated its networks for two years before the intrusion was finally discovered.
News Corp. is the largest media conglomerate in the United States and its holdings include major news and entertainment outlets like Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, Disney, and HarperCollins. This means that hundreds of millions of people around the world access News Corp.’s content on an everyday basis.
The hackers were able to access News Corp.’s internal networks and acquired protected information like source codes, legal and financial documents, and employee data. They were also able to gain access to the HarperCollins library of authors, allowing them to download millions of books before the intrusion was discovered.
The extent of the hackers’ actions and their motives remains unknown, but it has been speculated that the hackers were looking to get their hands on private information to leverage News Corp. in some sort of political or economic capacity. Given the magnitude of News Corp.’s reach, they would be an attractive target for any individual or group looking to gain an advantage.
It’s hard to know the full impacts that this breach could have had on News Corp., but given that it was able to go undetected for so long, it’s fair to assume that the hackers were able to do more than just access protected data and documents.
News Corp. has since put in place new and improved protocols for preventing future attacks and has engaged a third-party security audit to review its networks and systems for further vulnerabilities. They have also implemented a new information security policy aimed at ensuring that all sensitive data is protected from potential attackers.
The News Corp. empire is one of the most powerful media conglomerates in the world and is responsible for the news and entertainment coverage consumed by millions of people every week. This breach serves as a stark reminder of the importance of vigilant cybersecurity and the need for organizations of all sizes to protect their information and networks against malicious attacks.
