NFL and ESPN social media accounts breached by hacking group days before Super Bowl
The NFL and nearly half of its league’s teams’ social media accounts were hacked by a group that has previously breached accounts owned by Mark Zuckerberg, Netflix, Marvel and HBO.
Accounts for ESPN and UFC — the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a mixed-martial arts organization — also were hacked.
The official Twitter accounts of the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs, who are playing in Super Bowl 54 in Miami Gardens this weekend, were among the 15 affected NFL accounts, according to multiple reports.
Some of the NFL teams’ Facebook and Instagram accounts were also reportedly hacked.
Dov Kleiman, an NFL reporter, posted screenshots of the hacked NFL accounts, including the Chiefs, Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears. The NFL’s official Twitter account was also affected.
The New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Chargers, Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts, Houston Texans, Philadelphia Eagles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Cleveland Browns were reportedly also compromised. The Miami Dolphins’ accounts didn’t appear to be hacked.
Most of the breached accounts posted the message, “Hi, we’re back (OurMine). We are here to show people that everything is hackable,” along with the group’s contact information.
The first NFL hack appears to have occurred Sunday morning against the Chicago Bears. The team later tweeted out an apology for the breach. By Monday, the NFL’s official Twitter along with several of its teams including the Chiefs were compromised.
“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 said in a statement Tuesday. “The NFL took immediate action and directed the teams to secure their social media accounts and prevent further unauthorized access.”
The hacking group OurMine has taken credit for the Twitter breaches, along with hacking UFC’s Twitter and Instagram accounts and compromising multiple ESPN accounts.
OurMine, a Saudi hacking account that promotes its own cybersecurity services, told NBC News it stopped working in 2017 “due to some issues” and that the group is now back. They also told the news outlet they gained access to the 49ers’ Twitter account but were kicked out before they could tweet.
The group’s Twitter account has since been suspended. The NFL says it secured all of its accounts by Tuesday and is cooperating with police.
This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 7:49 AM.
