Lee Enterprises confirms cyberattack behind major outage, disrupting newspaper operations

Lee Enterprises, one of the largest newspaper publishing groups in the United States, has confirmed that a cyberattack was responsible for the widespread technology outage that impacted its business operations last week. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday, the company disclosed that the incident on February 3, 2025, affected critical business applications and led to operational disruptions across its network.

The attack forced the company to shut down multiple systems, impacting the printing and delivery of dozens of newspapers. Many of Lee Enterprises’ publications displayed banners on their websites, notifying subscribers of ongoing maintenance issues affecting access to digital editions and account services.

A spokesperson for the company told BleepingComputer that Lee Enterprises is actively investigating the incident to determine whether any sensitive information was compromised. However, they cautioned that the process is complex and could take several weeks or longer. The company has also reported the cyberattack to law enforcement authorities.

The outage reportedly caused significant operational disruptions. Virtual private networks (VPNs) used by journalists and staff were rendered inoperative, making it difficult for reporters and editors to access essential files. Employees across multiple newsrooms experienced issues that severely impacted their ability to carry out their work.

Lee Enterprises, which operates 77 daily newspapers and 350 weekly and specialty publications across 26 states, serves a readership of over 1.2 million print subscribers, with digital editions reaching more than 44 million unique visitors. Its portfolio includes prominent publications such as the Buffalo News, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Arizona Daily Star, the Omaha World-Herald, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and many others.

This is not the first time cybercriminals have targeted Lee Enterprises. In 2019, just before the U.S. presidential election, Iranian hackers breached the company’s network as part of a broader disinformation campaign. While no confirmed link exists between that incident and the latest attack, the recurrence of cybersecurity threats highlights the increasing risks facing media organizations.

As the investigation continues, Lee Enterprises remains focused on restoring full functionality to its systems and mitigating any potential damage resulting from the cyberattack.