Entercom hit by remote hackers for the second time in 2019

Another cyber attack targets the large radio network – Entercom in 2019

Entercom managed to fix the problems the second day after the cyber attack

Security websites have been releasing reports about Entercom being hit by malware the second time this year. Entercom is a well-known radio network that is based in Pennsylvania, The United States. It has been created in 1968 and owns 235 radio stations from 48 media stores worldwide. During 2017, the company combined with another radio-based firm named CBS Radio and this organization owned a 72% stake of Entercom's stock.^[1]

Sadly, the big giant Entercom has been hit by two cyber attacks in 2019. The first one took place in September and resulted in huge monetary losses for the company. The firm was provided with a ransom demand of $500,000.^[2] The criminals urged for such as big price to be paid in exchange for file decryption.

However, it remains unknown if Entercom agreed with these conditions or not. The second attempt occurred at the end of December this year and there are speculations that the attack might have affected the back-office features. As a result, the company had to run already recorded tapes.

Entercom fixes its systems the day after the attempt

Entercom does not want to expose all of the details about the incident but claims that systems were shut down as a result of the cyber attack. The systems were fixed a day after the attack occurred. The company has experienced various connection problems that affected its email communication systems, file and document access, and information that was suited for digital platforms.^[3] Additionally, it is known that some worldwide stores were not able to import music logs and other relevant things when the cyber attack took place.

Gladly, Entercom has already learned from the cyber incident that happened in September and decided to invest in its security systems and software. According to cybersecurity experts, this is the main reason why it took such a short time to recover from the second incident.

Malware attacks have been targetting companies worldwide

The attempt that was made on Entercom is just only a tear in the ocean combining to the entire number of cyber attacks that happen constantly. For example, another recent malware attack has touched a Canadian insurance company named Andrew Agencies.^[4] This attempt resulted in the encryption of 245 computer systems!

The cybercriminals managed to encrypt a huge load of information that equaled to 63 000 GB (63 terabytes). Also, the details included information on 900 clients that used the insurance company's services and their account passwords. Another surprising fact was that the hackers had demanded a huge ransom price that went up to 150 BTC ($1.1M).

Keep in mind that cyber attacks are not only targetting wide companies. You can easily get hit by ransomware or other malware even just by browsing on unsecured pages. Regarding this fact, you always have to make sure that you do not click on any unknown content, do not open suspicious email attachments^[5] or hyperlinks. Additionally, note that reliable antivirus protection is also crucial so do not be afraid to invest in your own safety.