By Dustin Volz, Isabella Simonetti and Robert McMillan

A cyberattack on the Washington Post compromised email accounts of several journalists and was potentially the work of a foreign government, company officials told some affected staffers in recent days, according to people familiar with the situation.

Staffers were told the intrusions compromised journalists' Microsoft accounts and could have granted the intruder access to work emails they sent and received, some of the people said. The reporters targeted include those on the national-security and economic-policy teams, including some who write about China, the people said.

In an internal memo on Sunday, Post Executive Editor Matt Murray said he wanted to notify staff about a "possible targeted unauthorized intrusion into our email system," adding that the Post believes a limited number of journalists' accounts were affected. He said the company discovered the issue on Thursday evening and has begun an investigation.

Murray previously helped manage a similar incident during his tenure as editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal.

Microsoft declined to comment.

Staffers affected by the hack were notified in recent days and have been instructed not to discuss the matter.

Alongside senior security officials and politicians, journalists are among the most fruitful targets for nation-state hackers seeking to gain intelligence on behalf of foreign governments, according to law-enforcement officials and cybersecurity experts.

Reporters often speak to sources who might have valuable or sensitive information. Powerful surveillance tools have been frequently used against journalists and human-rights activists.

In a breach of Wall Street Journal parent News Corp, disclosed in 2022 and dating back to at least early 2020, hackers were able to search emails and documents of journalists, including drafts of articles. They appeared to be interested in a range of issues of importance to Beijing, such as Taiwan and China's Uyghur ethnic group, the Journal reported.

News Corp's cybersecurity consultant said at the time that the hack was likely meant to gather intelligence to benefit China's interests.

The hack of the Post might be narrower, as it was believed to only breach emails, people familiar with the matter said. Reporters at the newspaper said they seldom put sensitive information into emails and instead prefer to use Slack for internal coordination and encrypted messaging services such as Signal to speak with sources.

Murray, in his staff note sent Sunday afternoon, said the news outlet has taken additional steps to secure its digital systems, including a forced credential reset for all Post employees.

"We do not believe this unauthorized intrusion impacted any additional Post systems or has had any impact for our customers," Murray said.

Write to Dustin Volz at dustin.volz@wsj.com, Isabella Simonetti at isabella.simonetti@wsj.com and Robert McMillan at robert.mcmillan@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 15, 2025 15:41 ET (19:41 GMT)

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