Nine Newspapers Suffer Major Cybersecurity Breach, Exposing Thousands of Subscriber Data

Thousands of subscribers to Nine newspapers have had their personal data exposed online following a major cybersecurity breach. The incident, which was disclosed by the organisation on [insert date], has left 16,000 subscribers of the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Financial Review with their names, postal addresses, and email addresses left exposed online.

The breach was first made aware of by a security researcher who contacted Nine to inform them of the issue. According to a spokesperson for the organisation, the data in question was held by a third-party supplier that had access to subscriber details and was not protected to the level of Nine's strict internal data protocols. "We have been made aware by a security researcher that certain personal information held by a third party supplier was not protected to the level of Nine's strict internal data protocols after an unauthorised change," a spokesperson said.

The company confirmed that payment details and passwords were not affected in the breach, but acknowledged that the exposure of subscriber data could put thousands of users at risk of cyber attacks. "The customer personal information that was held by the provider was limited to name, postal address, and/or email address. The data did not include credit card details or passwords," a spokesperson said.

Nine is taking steps to resolve the issue and is contacting all subscribers who were impacted by the breach. While there has been no breach of Nine's internal technology infrastructure, the organisation treated the matter seriously and worked with the third-party supplier to resolve the issue.

The incident is the second major cyber breach reported in two days, after 9,000 sensitive court files were downloaded from the NSW Courts online registry last week. The breach highlights the ongoing threat of cyber attacks on organisations and individuals, and the importance of robust cybersecurity measures to protect personal data.

What You Need to Know

• The breach affected 16,000 subscribers of the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Financial Review.
• The exposed data included names, postal addresses, and email addresses.
• Payment details and passwords were not affected in the breach.
• Nine is contacting all subscribers who were impacted by the breach.

If you are a subscriber to one of these newspapers and believe that your data may have been exposed, contact Nine's customer service team to report any concerns or issues.