Cyber Incident Victim: Kansas City Chiefs
Date:
Jan 2020
Location:
United States of America
Summary
The OurMine hacking group briefly compromised social media accounts of multiple NFL teams, including the Kansas City Chiefs' Twitter account, alongside other franchises and the league itself. Attackers hijacked platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, leveraging the breaches to promote their group and demonstrate security vulnerabilities. While control was restored quickly, the incidents impacted accounts with tens of millions of combined followers, highlighting transient unauthorized access without further malicious activity beyond account takeover announcements.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 1 motive | 1 technique |
| Threat Actor | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 actor | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On January 26, 2020, the OurMine hacking group executed a coordinated takeover of multiple National Football League (NFL) teams' social media accounts, including the Kansas City Chiefs' Twitter account. This incident occurred during a broader hacking spree that began on January 22, 2020, when the group first compromised the Twitter account of Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin. Over subsequent days, OurMine targeted additional high-profile individuals including Will Smith (CEO of FooVR), Bobby Berk (Queer Eye star), Enrique Hernández (LA Dodgers player), Matt Raub (film director), and the Dave Moss YouTube channel. The NFL-related attacks represented an escalation in scale, simultaneously impacting seven organizations: the Dallas Cowboys (Instagram/Facebook), Buffalo Bills (Instagram/Facebook), Houston Texans (Facebook), Minnesota Vikings (Instagram/Facebook), Kansas City Chiefs (Twitter), Green Bay Packers (Twitter/Facebook), and the NFL's official Twitter and Facebook accounts.
The attackers maintained control over the compromised accounts for approximately two hours, during which they used the platforms to promote their group and demonstrate security vulnerabilities. Collectively, the affected NFL accounts commanded tens of millions of followers, amplifying the visibility of the breaches. OurMine publicly documented their actions through their own Twitter account, which was subsequently suspended by the platform. No specific content posted on the Kansas City Chiefs' account was detailed in available reports. All organizations regained control of their accounts within the same day, though no technical details regarding account recovery or forensic investigations were disclosed. The incident highlighted vulnerabilities in social media account security across high-profile sports organizations without causing reported financial losses or data theft beyond temporary account access.