The data of fans of the Paris football club could have been stolen.
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), a prominent French football club owned by Qatari investors, has issued a warning to its fans about a cyberattack that affected the club's online ticket sales service last week.
The information was distributed to fans on Monday, April 8, although the incident was discovered last week, April 3, according to the newspaper Le Parisien.
The event took place on the eve of an important PSG meeting with Barcelona in the quarter — finals of the Champions League-the main football tournament in Europe. Despite having the highest salary in Europe, the Parisian club has yet to win this prestigious tournament.
Football clubs, like other large businesses, are regularly targeted by cybercriminals motivated by financial gain. So, for example, Manchester United in England was attacked by ransomware in 2020, and the Royal Netherlands Football Union fell victim to a similar attack in 2023.
In a letter sent to fans, PSG notified that the club's IT department had encountered unusual attempts to access the ticket sales system. "Our teams discovered the vulnerability and fixed it in less than 24 hours. In this regard, additional security measures were immediately introduced."
The club also reported the incident to the national data protection regulator CNIL. In accordance with EU data protection legislation, the CNIL can impose a fine on PSG if the club is found to be negligent in protecting customer data.
The letter to fans notes that there is no evidence that the data was extracted or used by hackers, but the ticket purchase system still contained various personal information, including names, email and postal addresses, mobile phone numbers and dates of birth.
"In this context and in accordance with the law, Paris Saint-Germain is obliged to notify people who may be affected by this malicious action," the letter says.
Cyber attacks on football clubs, as well as on any other large organizations, are a serious threat in the modern world. The PSG case demonstrates that even companies with large financial resources and high security costs are not immune to hacking.
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), a prominent French football club owned by Qatari investors, has issued a warning to its fans about a cyberattack that affected the club's online ticket sales service last week.
The information was distributed to fans on Monday, April 8, although the incident was discovered last week, April 3, according to the newspaper Le Parisien.
The event took place on the eve of an important PSG meeting with Barcelona in the quarter — finals of the Champions League-the main football tournament in Europe. Despite having the highest salary in Europe, the Parisian club has yet to win this prestigious tournament.
Football clubs, like other large businesses, are regularly targeted by cybercriminals motivated by financial gain. So, for example, Manchester United in England was attacked by ransomware in 2020, and the Royal Netherlands Football Union fell victim to a similar attack in 2023.
In a letter sent to fans, PSG notified that the club's IT department had encountered unusual attempts to access the ticket sales system. "Our teams discovered the vulnerability and fixed it in less than 24 hours. In this regard, additional security measures were immediately introduced."
The club also reported the incident to the national data protection regulator CNIL. In accordance with EU data protection legislation, the CNIL can impose a fine on PSG if the club is found to be negligent in protecting customer data.
The letter to fans notes that there is no evidence that the data was extracted or used by hackers, but the ticket purchase system still contained various personal information, including names, email and postal addresses, mobile phone numbers and dates of birth.
"In this context and in accordance with the law, Paris Saint-Germain is obliged to notify people who may be affected by this malicious action," the letter says.
Cyber attacks on football clubs, as well as on any other large organizations, are a serious threat in the modern world. The PSG case demonstrates that even companies with large financial resources and high security costs are not immune to hacking.
