The Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings Ltd (ASX: NEC) share price is trading lower today after the broadcaster was hacked over the weekend. Channel Nine confirmed the cyber-attack interrupted live broadcasts on Sunday morning, with afternoon news programs also affected.
At the time of writing, the Nine share price has slumped 2.4% to $2.85.
Let’s look further into the hack.
Back to basics
The cyber-attack was confirmed by Channel Nine yesterday, after its Sunday morning news program, Weekend Today, was unable to go to air.
A cyber-attack on our systems has disrupted live broadcasts today however, we have put processes in place to ensure we’re able to resume our normal broadcast schedule.
See the full story in tonight’s @9NewsAUS at 6.00pm. pic.twitter.com/N03bO33U3E
— Channel9 (@Channel9) March 28, 2021
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What’s happening? Well not much right now! Tech issues @Channel9 this morning… pic.twitter.com/yvHBbxdbGC
— Richard Wilkins (@RichardWilkins) March 27, 2021
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Nine News described the attack as sophisticated and calculated. It stated that television and digital production systems, as well as 9news.com.au were all affected.
Nine News also reported that it is working with the Australian Cyber Security Centre after it offered the broadcaster assistance.
According to a report by the Nine-owned Australian Financial Review, the attack was carried out by ransomware. But with no demands having been placed, the reason for the attack is unclear.
The cyber-attack on the broadcaster’s technical system sent news programs back to the dark ages. Presenters shared images to Twitter of them replacing teleprompters with whiteboards.
A remarkable effort by many many incredible minds to get @9NewsAUS to air tonight after the network was hacked. Here’s our rundown… old school. pic.twitter.com/u2kS8Om7be
— Lauren Tomasi (@LaurenTomasi) March 28, 2021
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According to a report from ABC News, Nine wasn’t the only institution to suffer suspicious technical issues over the weekend. The Australian Federal Parliament also allegedly suffered from a major IT disruption, leaving many parliamentarians without access to email.
Nine share price snapshot
Nine Entertainment shares have been having a party on the ASX lately, with lots of good news boosting the company’s share price. On 2 March, the Nine share price reached its highest closing price of all time, finishing the day at $3.07.
Ten days later, the company entered into a regional television affiliation agreement with the WIN Corporation. Most recently, Nine shared the news it had signed a letter of intent with social media giant Facebook.
While the Nine share price is lower today following the weekend’s cyber-attack, it is still up by around 24% year to date. It is also up a whopping 175% over the last 12 months.
The broadcasting giant has a market capitalisation of $4.98 billion, with approximately 1.7 billion shares outstanding.
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Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Facebook and Twitter. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Facebook. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.
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