Premier League club almost lost $1.27m to hackers

An unidentified Premier League club was saved from an embarrassment after hackers almost defrauded the football club of $1.27 million in transfer fees.

A new report from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), revealed that the hackers were able to compromise the email account of the club’s managing director and hijack transfer negotiations with another team.

According to Techradar, the club's bank flagged the $1.27 million transaction as fraudulent and intervened.

NCSC report revealed that sports companies are potential targets of hackers and another football club was infected with ransomware, which encrypted its files, switched off the CCTV system and disabled stadium turnstiles, almost leading to a match cancellation.

According to Paul Chichester, Director of Operations at the NCSC, cybersecurity should be an important consideration for sports clubs, just as it is for other businesses.

“While cybersecurity might not be an obvious consideration for the sports sector as it thinks about its return, our findings show the impact of cyber criminals cashing in on this industry is very real,” he said.

“I would urge sporting bodies to use this time to look at where they can improve their cybersecurity - doing so now will help protect them and millions of fans from the consequences of cybercrime.”

In fact, the considerable quantity of money that flows through the sports market - particularly the English Premier League - and lower levels of cyber awareness in the industry make sports clubs an optimal target for cybercriminals.

“In a business as lucrative as Premier League football it is not surprising to hear that the activity of wealthy clubs has piqued the interest of cybercriminals, especially during the busy summer transfer window,” Stuart Reed, UK Director at Orange Cyberdefense, told TechRadar Pro.

“These attacks demonstrate that no one is immune to this kind of cybercrime, especially in sectors like sport, which are increasingly becoming high value targets for hackers as sponsorship and TV rights fuel rising profitability.”