A ransomware attack took The Weather Channel off the air

[Zorro]

Source: The Verge

The Weather Channel was hit by a ransomware attack on Thursday, briefly taking a live TV program off the air, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The attack came amid severe weather in the southeastern United States and knocked out the cable channel for more than an hour. The FBI told the Journal a ransomware attack was the source of the problem and that the agency is investigating.

“We experienced issues with this morning’s live broadcast following a malicious software attack on the network,” the channel confirmed in a tweet about the incident, adding that “backup mechanisms” had allowed the channel to restore service. “We apologize for any inconvenience to viewers as we work to resolve the matter,” the tweet said.

Earlier in the day, the channel said it was “experiencing technical difficulties” with its live broadcast. In another tweet posted soon after, the channel said it was “back live on the air to bring you the latest on today’s severe weather threats.”

Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/19/18507869/weather-channel-ransomware-attack-tv-program-cable-off-the-air

[C Moon]

1. Excuse my language...

I fucking hate hackers.

There are the financial criminal hackers (the worst), but most seem to be annoying little jackasses who do it for some kind of "notch in their virtual gun." The latter cause big problems, stress and financial woes for innocent individuals.

So, anyway you look at it: hackers are assholes—send them to the gallows with Trump and Co.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

20. Take ASSange with them to the gallows, please.

[Sgent]

24. Those "notch"

types died out a long time ago.

Most cyber attacks today are either for money (in this case) or information (wikileaks, etc.).

NotPetya was the last major attack that didn't want either -- but it was done by Russia as an attack against the Ukraine at the height of their shooting war. The collateral damage was no different than accidently bombing a hospital or school.

[Roy Rolling]

2. Wake Up Sheeple

This is likely a government-sponsored attack, or government-sanctioned. But when they attacked our elections, 30% of voters pledged allegiance to them for helping elect their man.

Their behavior is only not-treasonous because the U.S. has not declared open war, for many reasons.

But still, an American business here was attacked. For God's sake, DUers, the DU was hacked on Election Day 2016, minimizing its strategic value to democracy on Election Day. It's a virtual Cyber World War 3.

[Delphinus]

3. Oh, my,

I had forgotten our 2016 election day hack - and how ill that made me (as well as the results of that disastrous day). I remember thinking there was something nefarious about the entire election when we got hacked.

[yaesu]

4. Its only going to get worse as 2/3rds of our government support the countries attacking us nt

[Baclava]

5. TWC used to be good, now a reality tv disaster porn channel half the time, truckers in ditches, lol

Everybody switching to Accuweather, Weather Underground for 24x7 weather for the whole country

[EarthFirst]

10. I use NWS/NOAA & DarkSky Network

DarkSky is unbelievably accurate...

[Bengus81]

17. Weather Underground was DESTROYED by TWC when it was bought..........

Skuttlebutt is that with all the cord cutters the WC is hanging on by a thread and cutting stuff right and left.

[The Genealogist]

23. I agree

I remember how TWC was back when I was a kid. Pretty business like, just weather information presented clearly and helpfully. Then, it slowly became, as you called it "reality tv disaster porn." Sad, it was once a reliable service. I get my weather information from weather.gov.

[Crowman2009]

6. I tend to skip the middle-man and get my weather info straight from the National Weather Service.

No sense in dumbing down via tv networks and private businesses.

https://www.weather.gov/

[Baclava]

7. I use the 'My Radar' app, real time live doppler radar, you can see what they see, anytime

[Crowman2009]

8. I'm still waiting for NWS to startup it's own weather app.

But Trumpy Dumpy & the Rethuglicans in the Senate aren't making that possible.

[Baclava]

9. NOAA has a good one too

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.apalon.weatherradar.free&hl=en_US

[TwilightZone]

11. NWS Now is pretty good.

It uses data from NWS, NOAA and weather.gov. I believe it's Android-only, however.

http://www.nwsnow.net/

[Major Nikon]

18. I also use that one

But mostly I use one called Radarscope. It costs $10 (one time fee which I paid many years ago). It allows you to see individual radars including some not generally available anywhere else. It also allows you to select individual weather products that are hard to find anywhere else.

[usaf-vet]

12. This is an issue that only the government can handle. IMO these hackers & other internet villains...

.... should be hunted down arrested and jailed. In the alternative how about a laser guided missile strike. To put them out of business. Ok! OK! maybe a missile is a little harsh.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

21. No, USAF-Vet, a laser guided missile strike is NOT too harsh.

These little sh*ts get their jollies out of creating this kind of disruption and chaos.

Can you imagine what they will be up to in 2020 ?

I worry about how they can disrupt military operations. Being retired from the USN, myself, this kind of anarchy really frosts my first-class freckles.

I say, take them D O W N now, hard and fast. Make the punishment so severe that people think twice before committing to this sort of action.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

13. Copycats

It's already been done:

[Maxheader]

14. Lets hope Nellwyn Thomas and Kat Atwater...CTOs for

The Democratic National Committee

Can do better...

[FM123]

15. The thing that concerned me the most in that article is that we don't know who or why.

"What the hackers were demanding in the attack isn’t clear, but ransomware, a type of malware used to extort money from targets, has become a major headache for businesses and governments. In one of the most devastating examples, a strain of ransomware called WannaCry, believed to have been developed by North Korea, spread throughout the world in 2017. The attack eventually affected computers in more than 150 countries."

Russia was caught hacking into our power grids a few years back and turns out never stopped their probing...
https://www.wired.com/story/russian-hackers-us-power-grid-attacks/

[Bengus81]

16. Hell...if it was like their POS Weather Underground web site........

Then it was probably THEIR fault. They bought and then took what was the best weather website and along with IBM DESTROYED it. Then they bought/merged with Intellicast and FUCKED it up just like they did the WU.

[Snellius]

19. Do not believe in the death penalty, except

ransomware bandits (and robocallers) should be taken out and shot.

[roamer65]

22. Weather Nation is available on Roku and also on Pluto TV.

Weather reporting without all of the editorializing.