Three, Two, One, Hack

The National Football League really doesn’t value defense as much as it should — at least not when it comes to online security.

On Sunday and Monday, a group calling itself OurMine hacked the official social media accounts of the NFL and 15 NFL teams, including the Super Bowl-bound San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Mack to the Lions

OurMine didn’t control the NFL teams’ Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts for long, but it had plenty of fun with them while it could — using the access to change the teams’ account logos and headers and send out bizarre messages.

It used the Chicago Bears’ Twitter account, for example, to claim the team had been sold to a Saudi Arabian official and was willing to trade its star linebacker Khalil Mack to the Detroit Lions — one of the teams whose account wasn’t hacked — for just $1.

Fair Warning

On many of the accounts it hacked, OurMine posted the same message: “Hi, we’re back (OurMine). We are here to show people that everything is hackable.” The message then encouraged anyone interested in improving their account’s security to contact the group via a listed email address or website.

OurMine told the BBC that it offered its cybersecurity services to the NFL prior to launching the attack, but didn’t receive a response. It’s unlikely that this week’s stunt will earn OurMine the NFL’s business — but the group certainly succeeded in getting the league’s attention.

READ MORE: Twitter and Facebook accounts for 15 NFL teams hacked [BBC News]

More on social media hacks: Breaking: Hackers Accessed 50 Million Facebook Accounts