British newspaper The Guardian hit by a ransomware attack

British Newspaper The Guardian on Wednesday said that it has been hit by a serious IT incident, which is believed to be a ransomware attack.

The newspaper said that the incident began late on Tuesday night and has affected parts of the company’s technology infrastructure, with staff told to work from home.

As per the media company, there has also been some disruption to some behind-the-scenes services.

However, the company said online publishing is largely unaffected, with stories continuing to be written and published on the Guardian website and app. The company is also confident it would still produce Thursday’s print newspaper.

As per the report, The Guardian Media Group chief executive, Anna Bateson, and the editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner, told staff: “As everyone knows, there has been a serious incident which has affected our IT network and systems in the last 24 hours. We believe this to be a ransomware attack but are continuing to consider all possibilities."

“We are continuing to publish globally to our website and apps and although some of our internal systems are affected, we are confident we will be able to publish in print tomorrow. Our technology teams have been working to deal with all aspects of this incident, with the vast majority of our staff able to work from home as we did during the pandemic," Viner added.

Viner further said: “We will continue to keep our staff and anyone else affected informed. We will update everyone again at the end of the day. With a few key exceptions, we would like everyone to work from home for the remainder of the week unless we notify you otherwise."

Globally, there has been a rise in a number of ransomware attacks that demand ransom in cryptocurrency.

Meanwhile, in India, The All India Institute of Medical Sciences, (AIIMS), Delhi faced a cyber-attack last month, paralysing its servers. A case of extortion and cyber terrorism was registered by the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of the Delhi Police on November 25. Two of the analysts deployed to look after the servers' securities have also been suspended for the alleged breach of cyber security.