According to government reporting, 7 out of each 10 sports organizations experienced a cybersecurity breach in the last 12 months. The worst part is that athletes are so influential that cybercriminals can use them as a part of an orchestrated attack that impacts hundreds of thousands of fans.
Which are the most outstanding cyberattacks in sports history? Let’s take a deep dive and discover.
1. Floyd Mayweather – 2020 – Twitter/X Hijacking
We’ll kick off our list with a breach that targeted an enormous variety of celebrities and star athletes, including the best welterweight boxer of all time: Floyd Mayweather Jr.
The infamous attack took place back in 2020 and it targeted Kim Kardashian, Barack Obama, and even Apple’s official account, amongst other VIP accounts.
Cybercriminals were capable of obtain $118,000 by making fraudulent posts from accounts including Mayweather’s asking unsuspecting users to send money to a Bitcoin wallet and promising to return double the money.
The most impactful detail is that cybercriminals managed to steal this money in lower than three hours.
2. Lazio FC – 2018 – Whaling
In 2018, illustrious Italian Serie A club Lazio was targeted by scammers conducting a whaling campaign.
Whaling is a type of phishing and it consists of targeting high-profile executives and other individuals in positions of power in order to extract a much bigger bounty. In Lazio’s unlucky case, the whale being targeted was the entire club.
Scammers managed to get away with $2.5 million after it was sent to a fraudulent checking account for a supposed transfer fee that turned out to be false.
3. WADA – 2016 – Confidential Information Leak
The World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) works closely with leagues, promotions, and sports committees to make sure maximum transparency in the world of sports. But, despite all of its great work, not even WADA is proof against cyberattacks.
The organization was targeted by cyberattackers back in 2016 during the Rio Olympics. Information about big-name athletes like Mo Farah and Rafa Nadal was leaked to the world.
One of WADA’s in-house systems, the Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS), was compromised and hackers from the Fancy Bear Group were capable of obtain personal data related to athlete’s approval process to participate in the games.
4. NFL Teams, ESPN, and UFC – 2020 – Twitter/X Hijacking
In 2020, the notorious OurMine group hacked the Twitter accounts of 15 NFL teams (that’s almost half the league!), ESPN, and the UFC.
No financial losses were reported as a result of the coordinated attack, but the sheer volume of affected profiles and the size of the athletic in addition to broadcasting organizations involved are also noteworthy.
As per OurMine’s claim, the stunt was to announce the return of the group after years of inactivity and to exhibit that no account was secure, in the sports world and otherwise.
5. Fiorentina FC – 2018 – Whaling
Another Italian Serie A club makes it to our list, this time Fiorentina FC.
One of Italy’s top clubs for a long time, the Florence-based side lost greater than $1.7 million after one among its top executives’ credentials were obtained by scammers based in Barcelona.
The excellent news is that this story has a pleased ending — Spain’s national police eventually arrested 11 people in connection believed to be answerable for the scheme. That said, there was no reporting on whether the funds were ever returned.
6. Olympic Games – 2018 – Espionage
The 2018 Olympic Games took place in South Korea, however it was utilized by spy agencies to peek into the nation’s network.
Reports alleged that Russian hackers accessed as many as 300 computers belonging to the Olympic federation during the game’s opening ceremony.
As per usual when nations are involved, the details of what occurred afterward are obscure — but the easy potential for this to show into an Olympic edition of The Catcher Was a Spy is sufficient to make the cut for many outstanding attacks.
7. Formula 1 – 2017 – Sensitive Data Breach
We’ve seen cyberattacks conducted by criminal organizations and even national entities. But, the origin of the cyberattack that targeted Formula 1 team RenaultSport feels much more deceitful.
The reason? It was orchestrated by attackers who desired to sell the team’s secrets to competitors. And, to make things worse, Renault didn’t even crack the top 5 positions at the end of that yr, so many still wonder if the attackers managed to realize their goal.
Cybercriminals obtained detailed details about the team’s technology, racecars, and methods, and any of those could’ve put Renault at an enormous drawback and derailed their season.
8. Houston Rockets – 2021 – Sensitive Data Leak
In April 2021, the two-time NBA champions Houston Rockets’ network was breached by the Babuk ransomware.
More than 500GB of data was leaked, including sensitive data like player contracts, team financial details, and customer records.
The most fascinating thing is that the ransomware used in the attack is taken into account almost rudimentary. But, the Rockets were removed from the only organization to get breached by this piece of malware.
The same hackers also breached the servers of firms in healthcare and logistics, which proves why all and sundry who has access to a network should follow security best practices.
How to Protect Yourself Against Cybercriminals
It’s scary to think that even the biggest athletes in the world could be targeted by cybercriminals, especially should you consider that every breach can cost over $9 million.
The excellent news is that everybody can protect themselves online by utilizing a set of online safety tools, resembling a password manager, a great antivirus program, and a virtual private network or VPN.
Choosing to purchase a VPN service is a fantastic approach to protect yourself against cybercriminals because this tool encrypts your connection and prevents snoopers from intercepting your messages.
As a matter of fact, the US has suggested for years that its Olympic athletes use VPNs to remain secure and protect their privacy.
Other ways to remain secure online include:
- Keep Your Software Updated: Cyberattackers often exploit outdated programs, so be sure that that your smartphone, laptop, and other device software are up up to now.
- Always Use Safe Passwords: Even if a platform doesn’t require it, be sure that to decide on passwords which have at the least one number, one symbol, and one capital letter.
- Don’t Let Your Browser Remember Your Credentials: Saving your login credentials in different places increases your probabilities of compromising your data, so avoid storing your passwords on browsers and web pages.
Stay secure!
Read the full article here
