By William Knowles @c4i
Senior Editor
InfoSec News
April 19, 2019
The Weather Channel’s normally quiet morning broadcast was suspended for a brief time on Thursday after what it said was a “malicious software attack on the network.”
America’s Morning Headquarters – “AMHQ” the Weather Channel’s morning show, was unable to air at 6 a.m. The Weather Channel showed “Heavy Rescue: 401” until 7:39 a.m. when “AMHQ” was back on the air.
“We experienced issues with this morning’s live broadcast following a malicious software attack on the network,” the Weather Channel said in a statement. “We were able to restore live programming quickly through backup mechanisms. Federal law enforcement is actively investigating the issue. We apologize for any inconvenience to viewers as we work to resolve the matter.”
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) April 18, 2019
“The Weather Channel, sadly, has been the victim of a malicious software attack today,” said The Weather Channel anchor Jim Cantore. “Yes, and it has affected our ability to bring you your weather information,” added anchor Stephanie Abrams. “So we just wanted to say thank you again for your patience and we want to get right to today’s severe weather.”
The Weather Channel tweeted “We are experiencing technical difficulties with our live broadcast. We apologize for any inconvenience while we resolve this issue. We appreciate your patience.” — The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) April 18, 2019
It’s too early to know if this was a targeted attack and what the vector was to upload malware to The Weather Channel. It could have been as simple as phishing the Weather Channel employees with a salacious email like “Reed Timmer and Ginger Zee vacation photos” but it was obvious The Weather Channel had learned inexpensive lessons about making regular backups and keeping copies offline to prevent future compromises like the $300 million ransomware attack on the Maersk Group.
