Cyber-Attack Knocks the Weather Channel Off the Air

The Weather Channel, based in Atlanta, Georgia, has been hit with a cyber-attack that knocked it off the air for 90 minutes. On April 18, 2019, the organization took to its Twitter channel to confirm that it had been hit by a "malicious software attack" on its network but as of press time hasn't released any specifics on the attack itself. When the AMHQ show should have started, viewers saw taped programming, Heavy Rescue. AMHQ's Twitter feed also confirmed that it was "experiencing technical difficulties."  Around 90 minutes later, the show returned with its anchors informing of the cyber incident. "The Weather Channel, sadly, has been the victim of a malicious software attack today," said anchor Jim Cantore. "Yes, and it has affected our ability to bring you your weather information," added anchor Stephanie Abrams. "So we just wanted to say thank you again for your patience and we want to get right to today's severe weather." While attacks on television networks do not always make mainstream news, many countries have fallen victim to them. In February 2018, a cyber-attack on the PyeongChang Olympic Games, attributed to Russia, took the official Olympic website offline for 12 hours and disrupted Wi-Fi and televisions at the PyeongChang Olympic stadium.