‘Jesus F***ing Christ!’: Guardian Staffers Melt Down After Hearing Their Personal Data Was Hacked

Some staffers were reportedly less-than-impressed with management’s slow response to the seizure of their most personal information after someone at the formerly anti-establishment paper fell victim to a phishing attack.

British newspaper the Guardian is reeling after a ransomware attack reportedly compromised the bank details and passport information of their staff.

It’s “clear that we experienced a highly sophisticated cyber attack involving unauthorized third-party access to parts of our network, which appears to have been triggered by a phishing attack,” the Guardian’s Chief Executive Officer Anna Bateson and editor-in-chief Katharine Viner reportedly told staff in an email.

“The attack affected many of our key systems, our IT network and some of our data.”

Operations at the Guardian’s offices have been suspended since the outlet reported the attack three weeks ago. Per the email by Bateson and Viner, workers won’t be able to return until at least February.

“We realize this news may be very worrying for everyone, and we want to say how sorry we are for any anxiety this may now cause,” the duo wrote. “But now that we have confirmed there is a risk, we will do everything we can to support staff.”

According to journalist Max Tani, the compromised data included “names, addresses, bank account information, salaries, and passport documents of Guardian reporters.”

The reporter said he spoke to a number of staffers who expressed outrage at the Guardian’s apparent incompetence.

One “pointed out that while Wednesday’s memo included a list of suggestions for better information security, the Guardian’s own systems made them difficult to follow,” Tani wrote Wednesday.

“The Guardian staffer noted that while the company suggested regularly changing passwords, many staff had not altered their passwords in several years because they are required to file a special request to the company’s IT department in order to alter login information,” he continued.

Another staffer’s response to the news was reportedly somewhat simpler but perhaps more to-the-point: “Jesus f***ing christ!!”