Report: Hackers grab hold of PGA of America computer servers
Ahead of major championships, challenges often arise for organizations like the PGA of American. The weather can be bad. The course can be disliked. But a Golfweek report Wednesday marks a new challenge.
According to Golfweek’s report, hackers hijacked the PGA of America’s computer servers for extortion purposes.
Not only did the hacking lock officials out of files related to this weekend’s PGA Championship tournament, but it also got ahold of files related to the upcoming Ryder Cup in France.
A PGA of America spokesperson told Golfweek it would not comment on the situation because it is ongoing. As of Wednesday, the organization had not regained full access to the servers.
On Tuesday, folks in the PGA of America staff noticed the hacking when they checked out files and received a unique message: “Your network has been penetrated. All files on each host in the network have been encrypted with a strong algorithm.”
Golfweek reported the files hacked into included promotional banners and logos as well as digital signage for this week’s major. They also included logos for future PGA titles. The hackers left a Bitcoin wallet number as part of their email.
“We exclusively have decryption software for your situation,” they wrote. “No decryption software is available in the public.”
The PGA of America told Golfweek it did not intend pay any extortion fees.
More from Yahoo Sports:
• Aaron Rodgers says LeBron ignoring Trump is ‘absolutely beautiful’
• Jayson Werth blasts Scott Boras: ‘Teams didn’t know that I wanted to play’
• Jay Busbee: The city that hated its NFL team
• Jarvis Landry goes on profane tirade on ‘Hard Knocks’
