Major League Baseball

Astros hackers reportedly tried to cover tracks, were too inept

Published Jun. 23, 2015 1:53 p.m. ET

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By Steve DelVecchio

As the FBI continues to try to build a case against the St. Louis Cardinals employees who allegedly stole information from the Houston Astros, one thing has become increasingly clear — these were not professionals.

Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times, who broke the story about the investigation, reports that the biggest break the FBI caught was the hackers’ inability to cover their tracks. They apparently made an attempt to disguise their efforts and came up empty.

“They tried to mask themselves like an experienced hacker and failed,” a person familiar with the investigation told Schmidt. “It’s clear they weren’t very good at what they were trying to do.”

Since the hackers weren’t able to hide their location, investigators have traced at least some of the information stealing to a house in Jupiter, Fla., that was paid for by the Cardinals during spring training.

Initial reports labeled the security breach a “low-level” hack that was done by Cardinals employees who simply used a list of master passwords that was created by Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow when he still worked in St. Louis. However, Luhnow — a former technology executive — insists he knows far too much about electronic security to recycle old passwords.

As we’ve stated numerous times, the best case scenario for the Cardinals would be that some low-level nitwits acted on their own. Things would get very ugly for the organization if investigators determined the hackers were simply following orders.

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