Oxford Mail publisher hit by ‘Russian hackers’ in cyber attack
The publisher of the Oxford Mail and Ham & High newspapers has suffered an apparent attack by Russian hackers.
Dozens of regional titles owned by Newsquest were targeted in a coordinated cyber campaign over the weekend.
The news sites were defaced with stories entitled “Pervoklassniy Russian Hackers Attack”, which were accompanied by a black and white logo.
The articles were attributed in Russian script to an author named “Daniel Hopkins”.
Another story, which appeared on the Bolton News website, showed a picture of the Russian flag alongside the headline: “Our president has gone crazy, shock content.”
It is not clear who is behind the hack, which was carried out across a number of Newsquest titles ranging from the Slough Observer to Scottish broadsheet The Herald.
The articles, which first appeared over the weekend, have since been taken down. Newsquest has been contacted for comment.
Looks like many Newsquest sites were defaced this weekend by "Russian hackers." An archived version of the story they published shows no copy/false narrative being spread. I can't help but wonder whether the byline "Daniel Hopkins" in Cyrillic, turns out to be a teen perpetrator. pic.twitter.com/PGJhYEkxu4
— Alex Martin (@AlexMartin) May 13, 2024
It is not the first time hackers and criminal groups have targeted online publishers with cyber attacks.
In the wake of the Arab Spring in 2011, a group of hackers dubbed the Syrian Electronic Army launched a major campaign of website defacement in support of the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The group targeted Western sites it accused of spreading negative news about the regime, including the BBC, Washington Post, Financial Times and The Telegraph.
More recently, the Guardian was forced to shut its offices for more than a month after it was hit by a “highly sophisticated” ransomware attack.
The attack gave hackers access to information including addresses, bank details, salaries and passports, and shut down many of the newspaper’s computer systems.
Newsquest is one of the UK’s largest regional publishers with more than 250 local news brands. It is owned by Gannett, the largest newspaper publisher in the US.
In 2022, Newsquest struck a deal to buy East Anglia-based rival Archant, which owns titles including the Eastern Daily Press, from buyout group Rcapital.
The merger left control of the vast majority of the UK’s local newspaper titles in the hands of just three companies.
Reach, which owns the Mirror and Express, owns dozens of regional titles, while David Montgomery’s National World group is the other major competitor.
