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Football fans are warned of cyber threats when they swap their tickets for TV subscriptions.
Jun 17, 2020
With millions of football fans expected to log into subscriptions to stream behind-closed-door games, advice has been issued on how to secure accounts.
The National Cyber Security Centre, which is part of GCHQ, warns online hackers could break into football fans’ accounts to carry out ‘phishing’ scams
Top Cyber Aware tips include how to put a strong password in place and completing device updates that keep accounts safe from hackers.
Football fans have been warned of cyber threats when they swap their tickets for TV subscriptions – and been advised how to watch behind-closed-doors games as safely as possible.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has shone a light on online criminals who could hack into accounts by guessing passwords that are obvious or have been compromised in the past. The organisation previously revealed that almost 700,000 accounts have been compromised through hackers guessing a device’s passwords as ‘liverpool’, ‘chelsea’ or ‘arsenal’.
As well as illegally watching the game the victim has paid for, the hackers could make unauthorised purchases on the platform or look to find personal information that could be used for further scams – including targeting them with scam emails or phone calls.
With the season now back, fans can secure their viewing experience by:
- Refreshing accounts: It’s a great time for fans to consider resetting their password. We’re increasingly seeing hackers use credentials stolen in past security incidents to hijack streaming accounts using the same compromised details. If you’re using the same password for your sports streaming accounts that you’ve used multiple times in the past – it’s time for a reset.
- Setting a strong password: We recommend using a password that’s separate to your email password and made up of three random words. You can then save this strong password in the browser so you don’t have to worry about remembering it.
- Updating streaming apps: Cyber criminals exploit weaknesses in apps to access your sensitive personal data. Providers regularly issue patches to these exploits in updates – you’re vulnerable without them so we urge every fan to make sure their streaming apps are updated. To make it simple going forward, we recommend turning on automatic updates.
For more information please visit the National Cyber Security Centres
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