Journalist emails targeted in hack on WSJ other News Corp media outlets

Cyber thieves accessed emails and other documents of News Corp employees, including journalists, in a hack that affected The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, and other parts of the company, the Journal reported Friday.

Cybersecurity consultants at Mandiant, hired by News Corp, found the hackers “are likely involved in espionage activities to collect intelligence to benefit China’s interests,” David Wong, vice president of incident response at Mandiant, told the Journal.

The breach was initially discovered on January 20, and News Corp reported it to law enforcement as well as bringing in Mandiant, according to the report. Customer data wasn’t affected, according to a mention of the attack in a routine Securities and Exchange Commission filing this week.

“To the Company’s knowledge, its systems housing customer and financial data were not affected,” News Corp specified in its quarterly financial report. “The Company is remediating the issue, and to date has not experienced any related interruptions to its business operations or systems. Based on its investigation to date, the Company believes the activity is contained.”

Chinese state-tied hackers have long been accused of incursions into Western corporate and government systems, including the 2017 attack on the credit reporting firm Equifax and the 2015 hack on the federal Office of Personnel Management.

Chinese hackers were also accused of hack attacks on The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times in 2013.

The Journal and its reporters have received awards and nominations—including finalist status for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize—in recent years for coverage of the Chinese government, including its powerful president, Xi Jinping, and allegations of human rights violations.