Will the World Cup be safe? New report finds huge increase in cyberattacks targeting professional sports organizations

Darktrace report warns that AI amplifies cyber risk in professional sports
84% of clubs affected by incidents last year; 83% saw AI used in attacks.
Average cost ~$170K per incident, with repeated attacks resulting in annual losses of up to $1.7M

Modern sports clubs operate like most large businesses and as such are targets for cybercriminals; However, the risk arising from the use of AI is even greater in this industry, compared to others.

A new report from Darktrace examined how the security risk of AI is two-fold: On the one hand, there are criminals using the new tool to create convincing phishing lures, deepfakes, fake brands, and impersonate professional athletes. On the other hand, there are sports clubs that use AI without proper safeguards, creating a whole new risk surface that can be exploited.

According to Darktrace, this risk is amplified in professional sports “where live events, high-value data, public pressure, fixed schedules, and large networks of partners and suppliers intersect at the same time to offer attackers maximum publicity, profits, and potential impact.”

Rising costs

To create the report, Darktrace used telemetry data from sports organizations, as well as results from a survey of 875 security decision makers and influencers at professional sports organizations.

That said, more than four in five (84%) professional sports organizations experienced at least one cyber incident in the last 12 months, while more than half (57%) suffered multiple attacks. What’s more, 83% detected the use of AI in these attacks, and 72% believe that AI will increase cyber risk over the next year.

As for damages, a single incident now costs around $170,000. While this may not seem like much for a high-income professional sports team, it is worth mentioning that 57% were hit more than once and 43% reported between six and 10 incidents in a single year. Therefore, the accumulated annual cost can amount to 1.7 million dollars.