Hacker group OurMine later took credit for the hack and promoted its security services
The Bears' official Twitter account was "hacked and used to announce fake news that the team had been sold," according to Jason Lieser of the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES. The "fraudulent tweet went out" yesterday to the team's 1.8 million followers and beyond, saying that the team was sold to Saudi Arabian official Turki Al-Sheikh. The hacking group "revealed itself as OurMine and tweeted from the Bears' account that the purpose was to 'announce that we are back' and 'show people that everything is hackable.'" The hackers also "used the Bears' standard hashtag -- #Bears100 -- to make the tweet seem more believable" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 1/27). In Chicago, Colleen Kane notes OurMine posted "several tweets with the words 'Just Kidding!' and with an email address and a web link to what it said was 'security services.'" Lions fan blog Pride of Detroit tweeted at the Bears, "Hey, while you're still hacked @ChicagoBears trade us Khalil Mack for a 6th rounder. Twitter is a binding contract." The Bears, "apparently still under the hackers' control, responded, 'Done for 1$'" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/27).
TAKING A HIKE: In Chicago, Dan Wiederer noted the Bears announced a "price hike" for '20 season tickets. The average increase will be 3.9%, with "non-club-level tickets going up by an average of 4.3%." All sections of Soldier Field will "experience a price increase of at least 1.6%." The team also announced that prices of "individual game tickets" for '20 will "continue to vary, with each game assigned to a tier reflecting the quality of the game" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/25).
