Phoenix Suns Pull Off ‘Pivotal Play’ By Implementing Cutting-Edge Security Solutions to Combat Malicious Online Attacks

Thanks to the rise of social media, professional sports teams now have the opportunity to create highly transparent connections with fans that ultimately builds more loyalty. When fan loyalty is at its highest, sports franchises often find that ticket and promotional sales increase, which has a major impact on the overall value of a franchise.

Though there is also a dark side of social media for sports franchises. Some of the most avid sports fans can become so fanatical about their favorite teams that they are not afraid to attack competing teams online, especially in open forums like Twitter and Facebook.

The Phoenix Suns have even experienced cyber attacks on their networks by fans from competing teams trying to hijack their emails system and even the basketball stars’ Twitter accounts. They also have experienced a flood of emails around game time that focus on phishing and even identity theft.

To combat the vicious social media attacks, as well as broader cyber attacks, the Phoenix Suns use a cadre of tools including security solutions from Check Point, McAfee, SonicWall and LogRhythm. It also has a dedicated team of IT support staff who stave off attacks by creating custom anti-malware signatures or temporarily block access to certain Microsoft servers.

This is not the first time that we have heard about the need for major sports franchises to better manage their online footprints. Last November, MorganFranklin hosted its “Pivotal Plays Series: Government Meets Sports” event that featured Bruce Allen, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Washington Redskins. Mr. Allen discussed with the other panelists how social media can be both good and bad for sports franchises. Be sure to check out the video recap of this panel here: http://www.pivotalplays.com/es/executive_main2.html

In the meantime, many other sports franchises could learn plenty from the Phoenix Suns and the Washington Redskins when it comes to managing their social media properties and how to prevent vicious malware attacks.