Hackers publish stolen NZZ data on the dark web

The hacker group “Play” made good on their threat and, as announced, published stolen data from the NZZ on the dark web. According to the NZZ, personnel data is also included. CH Media (which also owns Watson) is also affected.

The hacker group claims to have published about 500 gigabytes of data, the NZZ announced on Thursday. It is still unclear whether customer data will also be affected in addition to employee data. However, this cannot be ruled out. Newspaper production is still guaranteed, according to the statement.

The NZZ “clearly denies” having paid the ransom. “Payments indirectly fund further attacks against new victims and support such groups,” said Felix Graf, CEO of NZZ.

The media group CH Media was also hit by the hacker attack. A week ago, the first data from delivery organizations ended up on the dark web. In the meantime, more information has come out, CH Media announced on Thursday. A first inspection shows that this also includes personnel and customer data from CH Media.

Also data from other media groups

Ringier and Tamedia were also hit by the initial publication. The delivery addresses of titles “Blick” and Tamedia were in the data records. CH Media’s delivery organizations are also responsible for these newspapers in certain areas.

On March 24, the NZZ fell victim to a cyber attack. The hackers demanded a ransom. The stolen data would contain salary data and confidential personnel data.

CH Media purchases various IT services from NZZ. As a result, the three titles “Aargauer Zeitung”, “Luzerner Zeitung” and “St. Galler Tagblatt» have been temporarily waived from the various regional parts, so-called split editions. The “NZZ” also appeared reduced on some days. (sda)