New York---The St. Louis Cardinals are under investigation by US authorities probing whether officials of the Major League Baseball powerhouse hacked into the Houston Astros' computer network to steal player personnel information, US media reported Tuesday.
Major League Baseball, the Cardinals and the Astros all issued statements saying they were cooperating fully with an investigation into a breach of the Astros' database that was first reported to authorities last year.
The New York Times and Houston Chronicle, citing law enforcement officials, reported that investigators from the FBI and Justice Department had uncovered evidence that Cardinals employees successfully penetrated the database that included information about trades, statistics and scouting reports.
The Times reported that FBI investigators in Houston were leading the inquiry and that subpoenas had already been served on the Cardinals and Major League Baseball for electronic correspondence.
"The St. Louis Cardinals are aware of the investigation into the security breach of the Houston Astros' database," the team -- one of baseball's most successful franchises over the past decade, with World Series triumphs in 2006 and 2011 -- said in a statement.
"The team has fully cooperated with the investigation and will continue to do so. Given that this is an ongoing federal investigation, it is not appropriate for us to comment further."
If confirmed, it would be the first corporate espionage hacking case involving a professional sports team.
A series of high-profile companies and government agencies have been targeted by overseas hackers in recent years, but often the intent is to steal information to be used for fraud or military and trade secrets.
It also would be a damaging blow to the reputation of the Cardinals, one of the most famous names in baseball whose 11 World Series crowns are second only to the 27 of the New York Yankees.
The Times cited law enforcement officials as saying the hack was carried out by front-office employees from the Cardinals bearing a grudge against Jeff Luhnow, the Astros general manager, who worked as an executive with the St Louis team from 2003 through the 2011 season.
It was not clear which Cardinals employees were being targeted in the probe, the report added.
The FBI in Houston did not immediately reply to AFP requests for comment.
"Once the investigative process has been completed by federal law enforcement officials, we will evaluate the next steps and will make decisions promptly," Major League Baseball said in a statement.
AFP
