Security News > 2021 > October > Sinclair TV stations crippled by weekend ransomware attack
Update October 18, 09:00 EST: Sinclair Broadcast Group has confirmed that it was hit by a ransomware attack over the weekend.
While the Company is focused on actively managing this security event, the event has caused - and may continue to cause - disruption to parts of the Company's business, including certain aspects of its provision of local advertisements by its local broadcast stations on behalf of its customers.
TV stations owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group broadcast television company went down over the weekend across the US, with multiple sources telling BleepingComputer a ransomware attack caused the downtime.
Sinclair Broadcast Group is a Fortune 500 media company and a leading local sports and news provider that owns multiple national networks.
Its operations include 185 television stations affiliated with Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, and The CW, with approximately 620 channels in 87 markets across the US. This is the second incident that impacted Sinclair's TV stations in July 2021, when the company asked all Sinclair stations to change passwords "As quickly as possible" following a security breach.
Ransomware attack likely behind TV stations going down.
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