The NFL just got hacked on Twitter

OurMine, a mystery hacking group, strikes again.

Sean Hollister Senior Editor / Reviews

When his parents denied him a Super NES, he got mad. When they traded a prize Sega Genesis for a 2400 baud modem, he got even. Years of Internet shareware, eBay'd possessions and video game testing jobs after that, he joined Engadget. He helped found The Verge, and later served as Gizmodo's reviews editor. When he's not madly testing laptops, apps, virtual reality experiences, and whatever new gadget will supposedly change the world, he likes to kick back with some games, a good Nerf blaster, and a bottle of Tejava.

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Sean Hollister

Dec. 21, 2016 12:24 p.m. PT

This message appeared on the NFL Network's Twitter account today.
Ry Crist/CNET

What do Netflix, Marvel and now the NFL all have in common? Their Twitter accounts got hacked today by a group which claims it wants to teach them a lesson in security.

OurMine, the same hackers who claimed responsibility for hacking Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other celebrities this summer, is leaving a message like this one on each account it successfully hacks:

"Hey, it's OurMine, don't worry we are just testing your security, contact us to tell you more about that."

In every case, the group's access to each target's Twitter account seems to be short-lived. Netflix, Marvel and the NFL have each managed to delete OurMine's tweets -- or else Twitter is doing it for them. The NFL appeared to regain control within 15 minutes of the hack.

According to OurMine, which has been chatting with CNET over email, the hacker group runs into a warning message ("We detected unusual activity on your account") each time it successfully hacks a new Twitter account, suggesting that perhaps Twitter may be automatically flagging the hacks to some degree.

Twitter and the NFL both declined to comment publicly on the hacks.

"We don't know who is our next target," OurMine told CNET.