DICK’S Sporting Goods Discloses Likely Cyberattack

DICK’S Sporting Goods is under attack. According to The Bleeping Computer, the company announced it discovered “unauthorized third-party access” on its network which exposed “confidential information.” The attack reportedly occurred Wednesday, Aug. 21, a week before DICK’S disclosed the situation.

The company hasn’t confirmed this is a true cyberattack, but the implications seem to suggest it is one. DICKS’S said in a filing that it doesn’t believe the attack has harmed any of its active business, and that the attack was “not material.”

DICK’S seems to be playing this situation smart: The company is not trying to fend off the attack alone, instead hiring third-party cybersecurity consultants to analyze the cyberattack and minimize the damage from it. The company had also, as of last Wednesday, locked all of its employees out of their work accounts, in addition to shuttering the company’s email network.

If this situation is a cyberattack, and the company had confidential information stolen, they are no doubt working with investigators to discover the extent of the breach—whether the attacks stole internal company information, customer data, or both. Those discoveries will allow the company to act accordingly: If customer data was exposed, DICK’S can contact affected shoppers, and inform them about next steps.

However, if this is a ransomware situation, DICK’S might be in for a long battle. In a ransomware attack, hackers not only steal internal company data, but quite literally hold it for ransom: If a company wants its data back, hackers want them to pay up. Sometimes, attackers even lock companies out of their systems, escalating the situation, and pushing companies to pay the ransom.

Officials advise to avoid paying the ransom if at all possible: Instead, your company should triage the situation, save what data you can, and reach out to law enforcement for assistance. After all, hackers only purse ransomware attacks because they think they’ll get a payout.