Who has not heard about Manchester United? It is among the most decorated football clubs in England with a total of a record 13 Premier League Titles. Even outside of England, it ranks among the most followed football clubs in the world. Recently, Manchester United released a public statement to confirm a cyber attack it faced.
Manchester United under cyber attack
On Friday, Manchester United announced that the club faced a cyber attack on its system. While the club remained tight-lipped about the type of threat it faced, it acknowledged that it was a sophisticated operation by organized cyber criminals. You can read the full statement here.
Fortunately, the club had foreseen the possibility of such attacks and had extensive protocols and procedures in place for such events. The club said its cyber defense was swift to identify the attack and shut down affected systems to control the damage. All of the club’s media channels including its website and app were unaffected by the cyber attack. The club also didn’t report any breach of personal data of its fan and customers.
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The incident took place a day before Manchester United’s match against West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League. The club on Friday assured that all the critical systems required for the Premier League match remained secure and operational and that would not affect the upcoming game. The match took place as intended.
Since the attack, the club worked with the Information Commissioner Office to contain the damage and minimize the ongoing IT disruption. Further details about the attack are likely to come out after forensic tracing has been carried out.
Other instances of football clubs under cyber attack
Manchester United is not the first club to report such cyber attacks, not even in the Premier League. Back in 2018, Liverpool FC reported unauthorized access to certain data held by the club. Attackers had hacked into one of the staff email accounts. As a result, attackers obtained the personal data of around 150 hospitality season ticket holders.
And such attacks have not slowed down in recent times. Earlier this year, the UK’s National Cyber Security Center warned sports bodies of growing cyber attacks. According to its report, 70% of sports bodies were victims of at least a cyber attack in the duration of 12 months.
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