The UFC issued a formal statement via MMA Fighting regarding Sunday’s security breach of the UFC.com web site. The response comes two days after the hacking of the web site.
Via MMA Fighting:
On Sunday, January 22nd, the UFC.com website was redirected by a criminal hacker to another website. The UFC website was quickly restored to the control of the UFC, and there is no evidence suggesting that any confidential information belonging to the company or its customers was compromised by the re-direction of the website. UFC representatives are continuing to investigate the matter and are working with law enforcement agents to prosecute those involved.
Payout Perspective:
While there is nothing wrong with the statement, the tardiness of the assurance that all is well with the site is a concern. As MMA Fighting points out, the recent Zappos.com security breach saw a swifter response from the online shoe retailer. Still, the online shoe retailer is facing at least one lawsuit related to the breach. In addition, White’s twitter response that he basically did not care is of concern since UFC.com also acts as a storefront for its fans. Its a place where the UFC sells product and asks for buyer’s credit card and personal information.
Oh that Dana and his Twitter… he should have some sort of 30 min. delay on his tweets so he has some time to think about them first.
MV,
I think that’s a good idea. Its like after any NBA or NFL game. There’s a 15 minute or so buffer after a game before the media is allowed into the locker room to talk to players so they can compose themselves.
The UFC need to up their front office game. Certain things are great to have Dana the Hype-Man comment on in real time (e.g. crazy Russians) certain things need an official response from Zuffa Incorporated (e.g. someone may have stolen my credit card information from the UFC website). Dana is going to have to learn which is which.
I dont see what the big deal is. Someone hacked into their site. The last thing you want to do is comment on something before you look into it fully. The hackers still can do damage. It would be silly for Dana to give the perps any staisfaction. He also wouldnt want to say anything to cause them to do any more damage or draw a lot of attention to the matter. He also wouldnt want to assure anyone nothing was taken and it wont happen again until he cant confidently make those statements.
Let’s put this into perspective.
The hackers managed to insert a link which redirected UFC fans to another site.
This is like vandals going up to a Bank sign late at night and overpainting it and with another name.
Is the bank compromised because the exterior sign was spray painted? Is the money in the vault in danger because of this vandalism?
The UFC should reassure subscribers–but the breach does not sound that serious.
If I was Dana White, I would hire some top-notch cyber-detectives. Hackers erroneously believe that they cannot be traced–but with a little effort and ingenuity, they can be caught–and arrested–no matter where in the world they reside.