Manchester United’s transfer plans are just some of the information that has been stolen after a cyber-attack on the club.
However, the Premier League side say they are confident no personal information about fans has been compromised.
The club have informed the UK’s Information Commission Office and now forensic tracing is being used to find out more about the attack and who may have been responsible for it. Manchester Police have also been informed about the incident.
However, it does appear that their targets for the forthcoming January transfer window are amongst the data stolen, as well as other sensitive information such as details of their scouting network – including statistics, reports, ratings and detailed reports on potential transfer targets.
It is believed that the motivation for the attack is blackmail, with the fraudsters demanding payment other information will be leaked to the public.
Cyber experts and United’s IT team are working to strengthen their firewall and internal data security to try to prevent a repeat.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.