Backyard Media

Backyard Media, also known as BackyardBend, operates radio stations in the United States with its headquarters located in the country. The organization’s core offerings include broadcasting music, commercial advertisements, station imaging, and related programming content to its audience. Its Oregon-based radio stations were specifically noted as part of its operational footprint. Backyard Media maintains programming libraries that support the scheduling and playback of music and other broadcast elements. In addition to music and imaging, the organization manages commercial and payroll systems as part of its broadcast infrastructure.

On October 29, 2023, a cyberattack targeted Backyard Media’s Oregon radio stations, disrupting their on-air operations and compromising music, commercial, imaging, and payroll systems. The attackers issued a Bitcoin ransom demand, which the company’s management chose to refuse. In response, Backyard Media replaced the affected hardware and software components and began rebuilding its programming libraries. While the libraries were being restored, the organization delivered commercials live to maintain some level of on-air continuity. Recovery efforts included upgrading systems, and management publicly acknowledged the patience of clients and listeners during the restoration process, noting that the incident underscores vulnerabilities faced by broadcasters of various sizes.