Nielsen data centre hit by suspected cyber attack

Audience measurement company Nielsen has suffered an “unexpected disruption” to its data centre that has delayed the collection of TV ratings data from Tuesday.

The disruption, which TV Tonight is reporting is the result of a cyber attack, has impacted the delivery of overnight ratings to the major TV networks.

Ratings provider OzTAM, which is jointly owned by the Seven, Nine and Ten networks, reportedly advised the networks late on Tuesday of the potential attack.

A Nielsen spokesperson would not confirm whether a cyber attack had taken place, but said the company was working to resolve the issues quickly.

“Nielsen has become aware of an unexpected disruption relating to the Australian TV Audience Measurement (TAM) data centre environment,” the spokesperson told iTnews.

“The day’s TV viewing data will be collected and processed once functionality is restored. This means that all data due for delivery on Tuesday (July 21st) will be delayed.

“Our team is dedicated to resolving this matter swiftly. In the meantime, we will be sure to keep the industry informed as new information on the matter becomes available.”

The spokesperson also did not respond to additional iTnews about the nature of the suspected cyber attack.