NFL Hires Cybersecurity Firm after Social Media Hacks

• By Sydny Shepard
• Jun 16, 2016

In early June, the NFL community was shaken up when the official Twitter account for the National Football League tweeted out that commissioner Roger Goodell had died. Goodell himself was quick to correct the information passed along in the tweet, but the damage had been done and the NFL wants to make sure something like this never happens again.

Following the breach, the league has hired K2 Intelligence to provide its players and their families with a comprehensive social media plan. K2 will teach them everything from tightening cybersecurity on their accounts to educating athletes about how to conduct their online activities.

To ensure that the players understand the perils of social media better, the firm will monitor their accounts and personal devices to see how they handle their online data. They will then provide one-on-one training. The latter will include a digital vetting process that will ensure NFL stars are entrusting their online profiles to the right kind of people.

The decision to hire the firm comes after many high-profile breaches to players and staff of the NFL including the hack of Miami Dolphins’ Laremy Tunsil, whose account was hacked on Draft Day.

Whether it is an organizational mishap or an individual blunder, the NFL wants to make sure no one can gain access to authorized NFL accounts again.