UK Newspaper The Guardian Still Recovering from Purported Ransomware Attack

The Guardian, one of the UK's largest online publications, was hit by a ransomware attack just ahead of Christmas 2022. The original attack took place on December 20 and was disclosed by The Guardian shortly after.

The attack caused considerable issues at the newspaper's "IT network and systems" were affected, according to its own report. The Guardian initially stated the attack was likely ransomware, and given the long-term impact of the incident, this seems like the most probable version.

There have been next to no details and particulars surrounding the attack itself, except for reports on The Guardian staff switching to a "work from home" schedule. The original plan was for staff to come back to the offices this week, on January 9. However, the WFH schedule has been extended to "at least" January 23, according to reports.

There are also reports of anonymous frustrated Guardian employees who are not happy about the near-complete informational blackout surrounding the incident, with staff blaming the tight-lipped approach on the London headquarters and wondering how deep the damage runs if there are still significant issues nearly a month after the initial attack.

Ransomware has become one of the most dangerous cyber threats in recent years, being both more lucrative and often more potentially destructive for large corporate and government entities. Some of the high-profile ransomware attacks of 2022 include an attack on Japanese car manufacturer Toyota's plants and manufacturing infrastructure and one against giant chipmaker NVidia.