TV5Monde
is a global television network, broadcasting several channels of
French language programming. TV5Monde has a significant media
presence in Europe, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and
the Americas.
On April 9 2015 hackers seized control of the network and crippled its
ability to broadcast. Security analysts immediately surmised that the attack
was politically motivated. The hackers referred to themselves as the CyberCaliphate and uploaded jihadist propaganda at the time of the breach. It is now believed that the jihadists posts were a distraction
technique used by the APT 28,
a group of infamous Russian hackers.
The
APT 28 attackers dedicated several months reconnaissance
on TV5Monde and were thus able to launch an effective, coordinated
malware campaign that included bespoke malware designed to disrupt
the ability to broadcast by deleting specific data and sabotaging
vital hardware. APT 28 destroyed the encoder systems needed to
transmit to the TV-broadcasting satellites. The attack lasted a
matter of minutes.
In
an interview with the BBC, Yves Bigot, director-general of TV5Monde
admitted that they were just a couple of hours away from being ‘gone
for good’. It was only the fact that the engineers were on site for
the launch of a new channel that saved them from oblivion. A
savvy technician was able to promptly identify the infected
machine and
disconnect
it from the internet,
this
stopped the attack. The financial cost has been calculated at $5.6m in the first year, followed by over $3.4m every year following year for new protection.
News websites have become a prime target for hackers looking to cause mischief. The BBC had their website knocked offline at the end of 2015. The world's oldest and largest broadcasting corporation blessed with a heavy online presence to compliment its long existing radio and TV stations was today left reeling from a DDoS attack.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35204915
On October 19th 2016 the New York Times website was subjected to an online attack. The newspaper admitted to facing 'technical problems'.
https://hacked.com/new-york-times-website-offline/
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