What do NFL Draft prospect Shedeur Sanders and cybersecurity have in common? At first glance, not much. But this weekend, America saw firsthand how easy data breaches can happen — and how little effort they often require. 

If you missed it: Sanders was prank-called and falsely told he’d been drafted by the New Orleans Saints. In reality, the prankster was the son of an Atlanta Falcons coach, who later apologized and admitted he found Sanders’ phone number left visible on his father’s iPad. 

Even billion-dollar NFL franchises can fall victim to simple, preventable information security failures. 

In this case, the result was little more than public drama. But not every breach ends so harmlessly. 

A Far More Sinister Example 

In another recent sports-related incident, a former University of Michigan football coach allegedly manipulated a commonly used athletic training app to access the personal information of over 3,000 college athletes. He then used that access to find and exploit private images on athletes’ social media accounts — images that had never been made public. 

An athletic training app might seem harmless. But that’s exactly the point. 

The Lesson: You Have Valuable Information. Hackers Want It. 

It doesn’t matter if you are a Division III lacrosse team or an NFL franchise.It doesn’t matter if you are a small church, a regional roofing service, a medical provider, or an HVAC company. 

Hackers aren’t just targeting “big” organizations anymore.

They target everyone — especially small and mid-sized businesses that think they’re “under the radar.” Why? Because hacking has never been easier. And the environment has never been more target-rich. 

In the business world, data breaches happen all the time. You just don’t hear about most of them.Businesses often prefer to quietly resolve issues rather than admit publicly that a cyberattack occurred — creating the dangerous illusion that only “big” companies are at risk. 

Don’t fall for it. 

What You Need to Protect Yourself 

  • Policies, practices, and employee training for handling sensitive information. 
  • Incident response plans for what to do if a breach occurs. 
  • Backup strategies to survive a ransomware attack. 
  • Cyber insurance to cushion financial fallout. 

Cybersecurity: Always a “Later Problem” — Until It Isn’t 

A friend of mine recently dealt with the unexpected death of her husband, who passed away in his 40s. Because he hadn’t planned for end-of-life account access, she’s now locked out of key devices and unable to manage essential utilities — months later, the iPad and several accounts remain inaccessible. 

Even after experiencing this hardship, she lamented she hadn’t yet organized her own passwords and account access for her children. 

Why?

Because life gets busy. Other things feel more urgent. And that’s exactly how most people treat cybersecurity: You know it’s important — but until disaster strikes, it rarely feels urgent. 

But as the old saying goes: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 

Don’t wait for a breach to force your hand. Start securing your information now — before a prank call, a careless mistake, or a targeted attack catches you off guard. 

Need help building a cybersecurity foundation for your business? Let’s talk. Call BIT Services at (803)-226-0837.