NFL Reveals Hacking Of League, Teams’ Social Media Accounts

Jill Goldsmith
·2 min read

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The NFL announced less than a week before the Super Bowl that it was hit by targeted breaches of league and team social media accounts.

The pro football league said it “took immediate action and directed the teams to secure their social media accounts and prevent further unauthorized access.” It didn’t specify which accounts or teams were targeted. Reports said the Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts for 15 teams were compromised, including the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs, who will vie for the championship on Sunday in Miami. The hacks occurred Sunday and Monday.

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A tweet sent by the official Green Bay Packers Twitter account and later taken down read, “We are back (OurMine). We are here to Show people that everything is hackable,” according to reports.

The group OurMine has been linked to a hack of the Twitter account of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey himself, of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and of Netflix and Marvel. OurMine, which claims it is currently based in Dubai, says on the hijacked tweets that it is testing security and urges parties to be in touch for security help.

The NFL alerted the social media platform providers and, with their assistance, said it secured all league and club accounts. The NFL and teams are cooperating with its social media platform providers and law enforcement.

“We continue to work diligently with the teams, which have resumed normal operations,” the NFL said.

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