Cyber attack on online broadcaster Urban One compromised employees' data

American media conglomerate Urban One said the data security incident it suffered earlier this year compromised confidential company data, including the sensitive personal information of its employees.

 

Headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, Urban One, formerly known as Radio One, is the largest African-American owned broadcasting media company and the largest radio broadcaster targeting African-American and urban listeners. 

 

In a data security incident notice filed with the Office of the Attorney General of Massachusetts, Urban One said that on February 13, an unauthorised third-party gained access to its internal network through a sophisticated social engineering campaign.

 

The company became aware of the intrusion on March 15 and immediately launched an investigation, with assistance from external cyber security experts, to determine the nature and scope of the incident. It also took steps to secure the affected systems, minimise the impact of the incident and notified law enforcement authorities about the same.

 

“While our investigation is ongoing, the number of systems impacted is limited and the unauthorised access did not impact our ability to conduct business as usual. On March 30, 2025, our forensic investigation identified that certain personally identifiable information related to employees was obtained by a third party,” reads the notice.

 

The compromised data included employees’ full names, home addresses, Social Security numbers, direct deposit information, and W-2 information.

 

Urban One has advised all affected individuals to regularly monitor their credit reports, account and benefit statements and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement authorities, including the police and the state attorney general.

 

It has also offered two years of complimentary identity protection and credit monitoring services through Experian to all affected individuals.

 

 

The Cactus ransomware group claimed responsibility for the cyber attack on Urban One and listed it as a victim on its data leak site. The group claimed to be in possession of 2.5 TB of confidential data stolen from the company and shared download links for interested parties. To prove the authenticity of its claims, the group also shared samples of the stolen data, including minutes of meetings, passport copies of employees, and more.