Prosecutors claimed Weiss "cracked the encryption" protecting passwords used by athletes themselves — a tactic he learned through "research that he did on the internet." He also searched through data breaches to find leaked login information for certain athletes in order to access their accounts on social media. Weiss also "exploited vulnerabilities in universities' account authentication process to gain access to the accounts of students or alumni." Michigan and Westmont College are the only schools named as having students or alumni whose information was accessed. Acting U.S. Attorney Julie Beck announced the charges, accusing Weiss of gaining unauthorized access from 2015 to January 2023 to student athlete databases of more than 100 colleges and universities that were maintained by third-party vendor Keffer Development Services. In January 2023, Michigan placed Weiss on leave, telling ESPN that the school was investigating a "report of computer access crimes" that took place at the team facility in December 2022. A former University of Michigan assistant football coach was charged Thursday by federal prosecutors with hacking into the student athlete databases of more than 100 colleges and universities and accessing the medical information of about 150,000 people. The Justice Department unveiled a 24-count indictment of 42-year-old Matthew Weiss, who served as co-offensive coordinator for the university’s famed team for two seasons after working in minor roles for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens. In addition to obtaining health information of students, he also hacked into the “social media, email, and/or cloud storage accounts of more than 2,000 target athletes,” as well as another 1,300 students and alumni from universities across the country, prosecutors said. Before joining Michigan University in 2021, Weiss worked for the Ravens dating back to 2009. Prosecutors believe he compromised the passwords of about 150 accounts on Keffer Development Services that gave him elevated levels of access typically offered to trainers and athletic directors. “After a review of University policies, the athletic department has terminated the appointment of co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss. The Ravens and the NFL did not respond to requests for comment about Weiss, who allegedly conducted the hacking of college databases while working for the team. Matt Weiss on the sidelines of a University of Michigan football game on October 23, 2021. Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Michigan, added that the FBI Detroit Cyber Task Force worked closely with the University of Michigan Police Department on the case.
This Cyber News was published on therecord.media. Publication date: Thu, 20 Mar 2025 22:00:14 +0000