• by Ray Schultz , March 10, 2025

Lee Enterprises, the victim of a cyberattack and system outage on February 3, says it has contained the threat and is working with security vendors to restore automation to its business processes.

“Currently all products are being produced and distributed, although some limitations remain including limited depth of products due to tightened schedules,” the company says in an SEC filing. “Additionally, certain back-office functions remain delayed including billing our clients, collections, and payments to vendors.”

The company expects normal processes to be restored in the coming weeks. 

However, it acknowledges, that while “the full scope of the financial impact is not yet known, the Incident is likely to have a material impact on the Company’s financial condition and results of operations. The Company maintains comprehensive cyber insurance coverage, including business interruption insurance, and anticipates costs in excess of a small retainer to be reimbursed by insurance.”

The attack apparently was perpetrated by theQilin ransomware group.  Qilin announced it was the perpetrator in a post, initially setting March 5 as the deadline for paying the demanded ransom, according to Security Week. It was not known at deadline if Lee is paying the ransom but it seems unlikely given that Lee is restoring its operations. 

Lee publishes over 70 news products throughout the country.