Catapult, a company that provides video storage to college football programs and other organizations, said it is supporting an ongoing investigation with the NCAA and local authorities after players from Alabama and Michigan said they were made aware of security concerns about the platform been.
“We are aware of the ongoing investigation into alleged unauthorized access to NCAA football video footage,” a Catapult spokesperson said in a statement. “We conducted an internal investigation and found no security vulnerability in our systems. We have reported this to local authorities who are conducting an investigation.”
The company did not say which local authorities were investigating or which schools were involved. A Michigan spokesman said the school shut down its cloud-based storage system in early November because it feared it had fallen victim to a possible breach. Players were able to access films from Michigan's servers while in university facilities, but did not have access to watch them remotely on tablets or other devices.
“We monitored it internally and handled it that way,” said Sherrone Moore, Michigan’s offensive coordinator. “It was something we decided from our own perspective. People were hearing some things and we wanted to make sure we were safe on our side.”
Concerns about the Catapult platform became public Thursday when Alabama players said they would only watch film in group sessions to prepare for Monday's Rose Bowl match against Michigan. This isn't the first time teams have taken extra precautions before a game against Michigan, but concerns about the safety of practice film are a separate issue than the sign-stealing allegations against former Michigan employee Connor Stalions, who allegedly compiled video footage from others During the games, signals of the teams are fired from the stands.
The law enforcement agency investigating the possible breach was not identified. The University of Michigan Police Department, which is working with the FBI to investigate potential computer access crimes related to former Michigan offensive coordinator Matt Weiss, said it is “not involved in any investigation regarding unauthorized access to NCAA football video footage from Michigan.” .”Football program.”
Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy didn't blame Alabama for taking extra precautions and said Michigan did the same.
“It makes sense with everything that’s going on and the society we live in today,” McCarthy said. “Just like them, we didn’t watch any movies on our iPads throughout November because of everything that happened. We’re just making sure we have the time in the facility, the time to watch film and really analyze whoever we’re playing.”
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