Ransomware Attack Hits Cox Media Group

Live streams for radio and TV stations owned by the Cox Media Group went down early Thurday in what multiple sources have described as a ransomware attack.

The incident impacted the internal networks and live streaming capabilities for Cox media properties, such as web streams and mobile apps. Official websites, telephone lines, and normal programming remained running but some live programming could not go on air as scheduled.

“This morning we were told to shut down everything and log out our emails to ensure nothing spread. According to my friends at affiliate stations, we shut things down in time to be safe and should be back up and running soon,” a Cox employee shared in a private conversation earlier today.

Live streams for some of the impacted TV stations have returned online, according to checks performed by The Record, but most of the Cox radio streams are still offline later in the day.

In the aftermath of the incident, some radio and TV stations had to cancel live programming, according to tweets shared by some Cox program hosts earlier today.

While The Record could not compile an exact list of impacted Cox radio and TV stations, they have been able to confirm issues with streams from News9, WSOC, WSB, WPXI, KOKI, and almost all Cox radio stations.

The Cox Media Group owns 57 radio and TV stations across 20 US markets. A spokesperson did not return a request for comment sent earlier today via email.

Thursday’s incident marks the second time a ransomware group has hit a major media conglomerate in the US. In September 2019, a ransomware gang hit Entercom (now Audacy) taking some radio stations offline.

Ransomware attacks have also temporarily took down The Weather Channel in isolated attacks in 2019.