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Cyber Warfare: America’s New Favorite Pastime?

By Todd Weller, VP, Corporate Development, Hexis Cyber Solutions

There are very few things the typical American cherishes more than baseball – after all, it’s
been affectionately dubbed “American’s favorite pastime.” Unfortunately, the nation’s beloved
sport has been under scrutiny recently in what is known to be the first case of corporate
espionage between two professional sports teams.

According to the New York Times, the
FBI and the Justice Department are
investigating the St. Louis Cardinals due
to evidence that suggests the baseball
team allegedly and illegally hacked into a
computer database of the Houston
Astros, attempting to steal valuable
information about players.

Upon initial discovery, the MLB assumed
the breach was compromised by a rogue
hacker and notified the FBI. It was soon
discovered that the network had been
accessed from a house where the
Cardinals employees had been
residents.

Law enforcement officials believe that motivation behind the breach can be traced back to Jeff
Luhnow, who before his current post as the Astros’ general manager, had been a successful
executive with the Cardinals from 2003-2011. Luhnow may be best known for the “Moneyball”
phenomenon—a strategy to build a statistics-based baseball team.

It is believed that Cardinals personnel had a master list of passwords that Luhnow and others
who went to the Astros had used during their tenure with them. Concerned that Luhnow had
taken their trade secrets with him, the Cardinals apparently used those passwords to gain
access to the Astros database.

Although this occurrence is the first publicly disclosed breach in professional sports, it’s just
another example further proving that intelligence gathering is everywhere and that everyone is
looking to gain some kind of upper hand. When one looks at the math, science, data, and
algorithms behind 'Moneyball,' it’s easy to realize these databases store real, long-term value to
teams – making the data increasingly attractive to whoever’s hands it falls into. Furthermore, the
data is not easy to collect – the only real way to gather it is from someone who already has it
within their possession.

23 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – July 2015 Edition
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