Overview

• Lee Enterprises detected unauthorized access on February 3 and confirmed that attackers exfiltrated first and last names along with Social Security numbers belonging to 39,779 individuals.
• The Qilin ransomware gang claimed responsibility in late February, sharing samples of 120,000 stolen documents totaling 350 GB on its dark-web leak site.
• The February attack encrypted critical applications and prompted a shutdown of many of Lee’s networks, triggering widespread printing and delivery disruptions for its newspapers.
• Lee Enterprises filed breach notifications with regulators, alerted affected individuals around May 28, and has notified the FBI, pledging full cooperation with the investigation.
• The publisher expects the incident to have a material financial impact but said its cyber insurance coverage should mitigate some of the losses.