Police have been informed that the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has witnessed a cyber attack. In recent months, top leaders of the union, particularly president Luis Rubiales, have had documents and information from private email accounts, private texts, and audio calls taken.
Headquartered in Las Rozas, La Ciudad del Ftbol, a community near Madrid, the Royal Spanish Football Federation is Spain's football regulating organization. The Spanish FA won the 2010 FIFA World Cup and two European Championships in a row as a result of these events.
"It's likely this personally identifiable information, taken unlawfully and with clear criminal purpose, was provided to numerous media," the RFEF added.
Before the publishing of the information, an unnamed journalist informed the RFEF claiming its media outlet had been provided access to illegally acquired material from an unknown source who communicated over an encrypted voice.
"Through third parties, the media outlet in issue claimed to have obtained confidential contracts, private WhatsApp conversations, emails, and a variety of documents involving the RFEF management," the journalist told. "If accurate, it would be a crime of secret revelation and a breach of the people attacked's fundamental rights."
The Spanish FA has condemned such "criminal and mafia" acts to all relevant organizations, as well as appointed a private firm to improve security and prevent future attacks.
Cyberattacks, like hacktivists, can be linked to cyber warfare or cyberterrorism. To put it another way, motivations can differ. And there are three basic types of motivations: criminal, political, and personal. Money theft, data theft, and company disruption are all options for criminally minded attackers.
