Those hoping to read The New York Times on Wednesday might have been forced to stick with the print edition or its mobile app.
When users visited America’s newspaper of record online mid-Wednesday morning, they were greeted with a “Http/1.1 Service Unavailable.” The message indicated that the site was experiencing a server error.
The New York Times confirmed through its Twitter account that its site went down. The site went offline around 11:12am ET, according to at least one observer on Twitter.
The New York Times Web site is experiencing technical difficulties. We expect to be back up shortly.
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 14, 2013
At 12:04pm ET, the Grey Lady directed its Twitter followers to follow its @nytimesworld for updates on the developing crisis in Egypt.
Emmarie Huetteman, a New York Times news clerk, tweeted, “OH: Editor suggesting going outside and shouting the news from the street corner.”
Fox Business reported that the outage, which also affected the corporate sites affiliated with the outlet, was due to a possible cyber attack.
The publication is one of several U.S. news outlets that have reported over the past year that it is under attack from suspected Chinese hackers.
A Fox Business reported that anonymous source said that “the newspaper has been huddling with outside security professionals to assess the threat.”
The New York Times PR team said on Twitter that 12:47pm ET that it was experiencing an internal server issue.
Part 1/3: As you are undoubtedly aware, we are experiencing a server issue that has resulted in our e-mail and Web site being unavailable.
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 14, 2013
We believe the outage is the result of an internal issue, which we expect to be resolved soon. (2/3)
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 14, 2013
We will communicate further when we have more information. – from @NYTimesComm (3/3)
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 14, 2013
The Washington Post reported that the site returned online at 1:30pm ET but did not appear to be updated.
Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman for the New York Times Company, also told the publication that the company has “no reason to believe” that the disruption was caused by an outside cyberattack.
This story has been updated and is developing.
