Report: Cardinals data breach may have occurred earlier than expected
The St. Louis Cardinals may have accessed the Houston Astros’ database a year earlier than initially reported, according to Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle.
An anonymous source told the Chronicle that the Astros’ database was accessed by the Cardinals more than twice. The Chronicle had previously reported there had been two confirmed breaches into Houston’s system. This new report suggests the Cardinals had “unauthorized access” as early as 2012.
From the Chronicle:
The extent of the Cardinals’ reach inside the Astros’ organization isn’t yet fully known but was not limited to one or two occasions, a person familiar with the details of the investigation said. The source asked for anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the case. The Chronicle has previously confirmed two breaches into the Astros system – one in 2013 and one in March of 2014. The FBI began its investigation after the 2014 breach.
Early Thursday, Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. told the Associated Press “roguish behavior” was the reason for the alleged hack. DeWitt stressed that the team’s internal investigation had not concluded, but reiterated that those involved would be punished.
The Astros finally issued a statement on the whole situation, telling the Chronicle the team has a lot of respect for the Cardinals organization.
“Jim (Crane), Jeff (Luhnow) and our entire organization have a tremendous amount of respect for Mr. DeWitt and the Cardinals organization,” Astros general counsel Giles Kibbe told the Chronicle. “We have no doubt that they will handle this appropriately.”
The situation should be resolved soon. Once the FBI hands down punishment, it will be interesting to see if Major League Baseball and the Cardinals org do the same. It’s expected those involved will be fired, if not worse depending on the FBIs findings, but it’s unclear how MLB will act should people within the franchise be found guilty.
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With each day, this scandal seems to become larger and more complex. The more we learn about the situation, the worse the Cardinals look. We won’t have the full story until the FBI investigation concludes, but it’s starting to look like the Cardinals could be in for some significant punishments if these reports turn out to be true.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik