Either these guys are really good or the NFL’s cyber-security is just really bad.
The social media accounts of several NFL teams and one belonging to the NFL were hacked, the NFL reported today. Nearly half of the league’s teams had their accounts hacked on Sunday and Monday, and the hacker group OurMine has taken responsibility for the hacks. Just over an hour ago, they also hacked ESPN and UFC.
The BBC reports that Facebook and Instagram accounts for some NFL teams were hacked as well.
Twitter locked the accounts as soon as they were made aware of them being hacked and most accounts have been restored.
The NFL released a statement:
On Monday, the NFL Cybersecurity department became aware of a breach of a league-related social media account. Targeted breaches and additional failed attempts were discovered across the league and team accounts. The NFL took immediate action and directed the teams to secure their social media accounts and prevent further unauthorized access. Simultaneously, the league alerted the social media platform providers and, with their assistance, secured all league and club accounts. We continue to work diligently with the teams, which have resumed normal operations.
The NFL and teams are cooperating with its social media platform providers and law enforcement.
In the past, OurMine has taken credit for hacking social media accounts owned by Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, Sundar Pichai, and HBO. However, this appears to be the first reported attack since 2017. Yesterday, a person who appears to be connected to OurMine told NBC News that the group stopped work in 2017 “due to some issues” and that the group is now back.
Looks like they’re on a roll! Time to button up your internet security!