Ahead of a summer of sport viewing, fans are being encouraged by the UK’s official National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to protect their online streaming accounts.
The NCSC has reported that hundreds of thousands of online accounts have been compromised in data breaches that used football team names (such as – liverpool 280,723; chelsea 216,667; arsenal 179,095; manutd 59,440 and everton 46,619).
To securely stream sports this summer, the NCSC recommends that fans;
Refresh account passwords: the NCSC says that it’s 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 re-set.
Set a strong password: The most important password is the one that belongs to your email. That password must be different from all your other accounts’ passwords. If a cyber criminal breaks into your email account, they’re able to change the passwords to your other accounts by abusing the “forgot your password” feature. To create strong passwords, the NCSC recommends making them up of three random words. These passwords can be stored in your browser so you don’t need to remember them.
Update 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.
Anybody who thinks that they have received a scam email or text message can report this by forwarding suspicious emails to [email protected] and texts to 7726. The report will be investigated, and action will be taken against malicious content where found.
BT Managing Director of Security, Kevin Brown, pictured, said: “We’re delighted to be broadcasting the 2021 UEFA Champions League Final for everybody in the UK to watch, whether that’s on TV, via the BT Sport app, online or on YouTube – but we also want people to do so securely.
“As we’ve all become increasingly reliant on our online accounts over the past year, it’s more important than ever that we take simple steps to secure them. The Cyber Aware campaign continues to provide clear, straightforward advice around how we can all protect our accounts and the personal data they hold.”
