Dutch Football Association, professional leagues hit by cyberattack
Dutch football association KNVB was targeted in a cyberattack on Saturday morning that allowed an outside party to steal data. The incident also affected the organization that separately manages his two professional football leagues in the Netherlands, the Eredivisie and the Keukencampioendivisie (more commonly known as the Eerstedivisie). . According to the association, business operations and football have not been interrupted, e-mail systems, for example, have not been affected.
The breach involved the IT network of the KNVB campus in Zeist, where the Dutch Football Association is headquartered. KNVB said cybercriminals illegally obtained personal data of his KNVB employees. About 500 people work for the Dutch Football Association.
“More and more organizations are facing cybercrime. Despite our security systems, KNVB has also fallen victim to this. We apologize, but unfortunately we have no good news at this time, and we are doing everything we can to limit the problem,” KNVB management said in a brief statement Tuesday morning.
The Eredivisie CV (ECV) and the cooperative Eerste Divisie (CED) also use the same data servers as KNVB, according to a football association spokesman. Both organizations are located at the KNVB complex in Zeist.
The data breach was reported to the Dutch data protection authority and all possible victims were contacted by KNVB. Additionally, the Football Association has launched a digital forensic investigation with specialized agencies to further analyze what happened and the consequences of the incident.
A number of large institutions were affected by data breaches last week, including NS, Vrienden van Amstel Live, VodafoneZiggo, and multiple public housing companies. The market research firm they hired used software from Nebu, which is headquartered in Wormerveer and owned by its Canadian parent company.
KNVB did not answer when asked if the attack on the football association also involved Nebu’s software or if the company was using Nebu as a supplier. KNVB only said the investigation was ongoing, adding that it would provide updates on its website as soon as it had more clarity.
https://nltimes.nl/2023/04/04/dutch-football-association-professional-leagues-hit-cyberattack Dutch Football Association, professional leagues hit by cyberattack