Why NFL Draft Season Is Ripe to Be Hacked

How might it happen? Or, perhaps, how did it happen? An unprecedented draft season left NFL teams relying on technology like never before, and—according to security experts and hackers—left them more vulnerable than they might have imagined.

Depending on how you look at it, next week’s first-ever virtual NFL draft is either a much-needed distraction from the daily misery of pandemic news or a needless distraction at a time when we should be reassessing our priorities. Either way, regardless of gripes from GMs and those nerds in the media, it’s happening. On Thursday night, Roger Goodell, from a bunker in Westchester County, will officially put the Bengals on the clock.

To get to this point, the league and its teams have scrambled to build a virtual draft infrastructure, just as they’ve done all draft season to keep team personnel connected under stay-at-home guidelines. The scale and ambition of the operation is impressive. The league should be lauded for the fundraising aspect and for mandating that, throughout the draft, all team execs and coaches—regardless of their state and local ordinances—stay in their separate homes (unlike a certain quarterback in Dallas), emphasizing the importance of social distancing.

Read more of SI's Daily Cover