Soccer-Football Australia investigating 'possible data breach'

FILE PHOTO: A computer keyboard lit by a displayed cyber code is seen in this illustration picture taken on March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration/File Photo

MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Football Australia are investigating a possible data breach following a report in a cybersecurity publication that players’ passports, contracts and other personal information may have been leaked online.

The report, published by Cybernews.com on Wednesday, said the soccer governing body had also potentially exposed ticket buyers’ personal data and that “human error” was the most likely reason for the leak.

“Nevertheless, the mistake represents a critical data exposure incident,” it said.

Football Australia said in a statement on Thursday it was aware of the reports of a “possible data breach” and was investigating the matter as a priority.

“Football Australia takes the security of all its stakeholders seriously,” the statement said.

“We will keep our stakeholders updated as we establish more details.”

The report in Cybernews, which describes itself as an independent, online publication which discloses cybersecurity threats, said Football Australia had enabled access to 127 “digital storage containers”, including one which was left completely unprotected and contained players’ passports and contracts.

It said Football Australia had fixed the issue after being alerted by Cybernews.

The Australian men’s football team is currently playing at the Asian Cup in Qatar where they face South Korea in the quarter-finals. Coach Graham Arnold said the data breach was not a distraction for the Socceroos.

“Obviously we’re aware of it but it’s no distraction at all. The FA are on to it and we’re just here to focus on the tournament,” Arnold told reporters ahead of Friday’s game.

(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne, Additional reporting by Rohith Nair in Doha; Editing by Peter Rutherford and Timothy Heritage)