Cheerleading behemoth suffers hacker attack, data exposed

Varsity Brands, a US-based academic garment maker, has reported a breach of its systems. Attackers were able to access the details of tens of thousands of people.

Best known for making cheerleader apparel and holding competitions, the company fell victim to a hack earlier this year. Its breach notification letter reports that it noticed “unusual activity” on May 24th, 2024, and immediately shut down affected systems.

While the company‘s letter claims the attackers only obtained a “small subset” of its files, the details Varsity provided to the Maine Attorney General show that was enough to expose nearly 66,000 individuals.

However, it’s unclear what data was exposed, as the company chose to only mention that “names or other personal identifiers” were exposed, not revealing what other details attackers may have stolen.

The company told Cybernews that the investigation revealed attackers accessed filed which potentially contained:

• Names
• Social Security numbers
• Dates of birth
• Financial account information
• Employee IDs

"We have now notified those individuals whose data was impacted and provided resources to them so that they may take steps to protect themselves," Varsity Brands told Cybernews.

People impacted by the attack can apply for complimentary 24-month membership credit monitoring and identity theft protection services, an industry standard after data breaches.

Varsity Brands, headquartered in Farmers Branch, Texas, operates subsidiaries Varsity Spirits and BSN Sports, all related to academic apparel, cheerleading, and sports uniforms. The company employs approximately 9,000 people. In August 2024, the company was sold for $4.75 billion to investment company KKR & Co. Inc.

Updated on October 15th [02:20 p.m. GMT] with a statement from Varsity Brands.

Updated on October 17th [03:55 p.m. GMT], correcting the mention of Herff Jones as a subsidiary of Varsity Brands. In reality, Varsity Brands sold Herff Jones to Atlas Holdings in 2023.