Security News > 2020 > November > Manchester United: IT Systems Disrupted in Cyberattack

The Manchester United football club in the U.K. has confirmed that the team fell victim to a cyberattack on its systems.

"The club has extensive protocols and procedures in place for such an event and had rehearsed for this risk. Our cyber-defenses identified the attack and shut down affected systems to contain the damage and protect data."

"The cyberattack on Manchester United is alarming but will certainly not be the last of its kind," said Daniel Norman, senior solutions analyst at the Information Security Forum.

"Elite soccer teams are arguably some of the ripest targets for cyberattackers, with significant sums of money flowing through their books across geographical boundaries, with different teams working around the clock in sales, marketing, branding, healthcare and management. Moreover, a soccer team's supply chain is extensive and diversified - the volume of customer data shared on match days, on club websites, fan forums, sponsor sites and elsewhere provides attackers with a number of technical and potential human vulnerabilities that can be exposed."

For too long, sports teams have focused too closely on assuring the financial risk of the business, when disruption can come from any number of avenues, Norman said: "With a global presence comes a global suite of vulnerabilities that may be exposed. Elite sports teams should take note of this attack and act to protect their critical technical and information assets."

News URL

https://threatpost.com/manchester-united-disrupted-cyberattack/161488/