News Group Newspapers Limited, the publisher of *The Sun*, experienced a system disruption where its automated detection mechanisms falsely flagged legitimate user activity as bot-like or automated scraping. While no direct cyberattack (e.g., breach, ransomware) was confirmed, the incident highlights a reputational and operational risk tied to overzealous security protocols. The error led to blocked access for genuine users attempting to view content, triggering customer support inquiries and potential frustration among readers. The public-facing error message—explicitly prohibiting AI/ML data mining—also underscored the company’s strict content-use policies, which, if misapplied, could deter legitimate traffic or commercial partnerships. Though no data was compromised, the incident reflects a financial/reputational impact due to: - User experience degradation (false positives disrupting access). - Brand perception risks (users may associate the error with technical instability). - Operational overhead (customer support burden to resolve false flags). The scenario aligns with *attacks limited to finance or reputation* given the lack of data loss but tangible consequences for trust and service continuity.
Source: https://www.the-sun.com/money/15211581/att-data-breach-class-action-settlement/
TPRM report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/news-uk
"id": "new1491714100325",
"linkid": "news-uk",
"type": "Cyber Attack",
"date": "5/2025",
"severity": "60",
"impact": "2",
"explanation": "Attack limited on finance or reputation"{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': ['users flagged for automated '
'behavior (including false '
'positives)'],
'industry': 'publishing/news',
'location': 'United Kingdom',
'name': 'News Group Newspapers Limited',
'type': 'media organization'}],
'customer_advisories': ['Legitimate users misflagged were instructed to '
'contact [email protected].',
'Commercial use inquiries directed to '
'[email protected].'],
'description': 'News Group Newspapers Limited detected and blocked a '
'user/system exhibiting behavior interpreted as automated '
'access, collection, or text/data mining of its content '
'(including for AI, machine learning, or LLMs). The system '
'flagged the activity as a violation of its terms and '
'conditions, which explicitly prohibit such actions without '
'prior commercial authorization. Legitimate users mistakenly '
'flagged were instructed to contact customer support for '
'resolution.',
'impact': {'brand_reputation_impact': ['enforcement of content protection '
'policies may deter unauthorized '
'scraping but could also frustrate '
'legitimate users'],
'customer_complaints': ['potential complaints from legitimate '
'users misflagged as automated'],
'operational_impact': ['increased support requests from false '
'positives',
'enforcement of terms of service'],
'systems_affected': ['content delivery systems',
'access control mechanisms']},
'investigation_status': 'Ongoing (automated enforcement)',
'motivation': ['unauthorized data collection',
'potential commercial misuse of content',
'AI/ML/LLM training data harvesting'],
'post_incident_analysis': {'root_causes': ['automated systems misclassifying '
'human behavior as bot activity']},
'recommendations': ['Improve automated detection systems to reduce false '
'positives for legitimate users.',
'Clarify terms of service regarding permissible vs. '
'prohibited scraping/automated access.',
'Provide clearer remediation paths for users flagged in '
'error.'],
'references': [{'source': 'The Sun / News Group Newspapers Error Message'}],
'response': {'adaptive_behavioral_waf': ["likely (implied by 'system "
"indicated automated behavior')"],
'communication_strategy': ['direct error message to flagged '
'users',
'instructions for legitimate users to '
'contact support'],
'containment_measures': ['blocking of flagged IP/user agents',
'display of error message with '
'remediation instructions'],
'enhanced_monitoring': ['ongoing monitoring for automated access '
'patterns'],
'incident_response_plan_activated': ['automated detection system',
'terms of service '
'enforcement protocol'],
'remediation_measures': ['contact channels provided for false '
'positives ([email protected])',
'commercial inquiry route for '
'authorized access '
'([email protected])']},
'title': 'Automated Access/Scraping Detection and Blocking by News Group '
'Newspapers',
'type': ['unauthorized scraping',
'automated access violation',
'terms of service enforcement']}