Cybersecurity

Social media accounts of multiple NFL teams hacked

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The Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts of multiple NFL teams were hacked on Monday, with profile pictures disappearing for the teams. The hack included the two teams headed to the Super Bowl this weekend. 

A tweet that appeared Monday afternoon on the official account of the Green Bay Packers credited a group known as “OurMine” for hacking into accounts, with the hackers tweeting “hi, we’re back” and “we are here to show people that everything is hackable.”

The profile pictures and headers of the official Twitter verified accounts of multiple NFL teams went blank at the same time OurMine took credit for hacking these accounts. 

Teams hacked by OurMine on Twitter included the San Francisco 49ers — which had its entire bio deleted as well — and the Kansas City Chiefs, who are due to go head-to-head in the Super Bowl this weekend.

Other teams that appeared to be impacted by the hack on Twitter were the Dallas Cowboys, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Houston Texans, the New York Giants, the Chicago Bears, and the official Twitter account of the NFL. 

Prior to having its account suspended, OurMine tweeted out a running list of teams that had been hacked on Monday, noting that it had also successfully accessed the Instagram accounts of the Dallas Cowboys, the Buffalo Bills and the Minnesota Vikings. 

The Vikings also had their Facebook account compromised, with OurMine tweeting they had also hacked the Facebook accounts of the Green Bay Packers, the NFL, the Buffalo Bills, the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Texans.

An official for Twitter confirmed the hacks and told The Hill that “as soon as we were made aware of the issue, we locked the compromised accounts. We are currently investigating the situation.”

A spokesperson for Facebook, which owns Instagram, told The Hill that “we are investigating and working to secure and restore access to any impacted accounts.”

The ongoing hacks of team accounts is not the first time OurMine has taken action against verified accounts. Earlier this month, the same group took credit for accessing the Twitter accounts of actor Will Smith and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin. The group has also been linked to the hack of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s Twitter account. 

–Updated at 6:15 p.m. to include a statement from Facebook. 

Tags cybersecurity hacks NFL Social media Sports and Politics Super Bowl

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