{"id":700,"date":"2014-10-31T19:18:02","date_gmt":"2014-10-31T19:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/foul-called-college-refs-accessed-unauthorized-information\/"},"modified":"2014-10-31T19:18:02","modified_gmt":"2014-10-31T19:18:02","slug":"foul-called-college-refs-accessed-unauthorized-information","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/foul-called-college-refs-accessed-unauthorized-information\/","title":{"rendered":"Foul Called on College Refs Who Accessed Unauthorized Information"},"content":{"rendered":"

ESPN reported on October 30 that\u00a0several college basketball referees were disciplined for accessing unauthorized information on a website. According to sources of ESPN, login information to the officiating site \u2013BlueZebraSports.com \u2013was compromised and passed on to several referees.\u00a0 The referees gained the ability to access compensation of other officials as well as game scheduling information.\u00a0 This information was considered confidential.<\/p>\n

In response to the breach, BlueZebra Sports notified its clients (many of the Division 1 college basketball conferences) by letter that two clients abused their access as administrators on their own web sites and \u201cmanipulated our system in a malicious manner to gain access to the sites of coordinators for whom they worked.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the breaching referees was Bo Boroski, a prominent Big Ten official. Boroski officiated last year\u2019s NCAA tournament and also officiated the Big Ten tournament semifinals for the past two years.\u00a0 Boroski allegedly accessed his own game assignments.\u00a0 It has been reported that Boroski will not work any Big Ten games this year.<\/p>\n

This type of story may be atypical in the world of officiating, but it is far from unusual in the business world. \u00a0Trade secret theft costs companies billions of dollars in losses each year and it is an increasing problem. The risk of misappropriation has been heightened by technological advancements that make it easier for employees and external hackers to steal company data.\u00a0\u00a0 The mobility of the workforce and increased turnover of employees who work in sensitive positions also create risks.\u00a0\u00a0 For example, when employees leave their employer to join a competitor, they\u00a0frequently take sensitive information with them that they think may give them a competitive advantage in their new job.\u00a0 This information can include customer lists, pricing information, referral source databases, marketing materials, inventions and other types of competitive and proprietary data.<\/p>\n

To protect their businesses, employers of all sizes and in all industries should be proactive in protecting trade secrets and confidential information.\u00a0\u00a0 Even a single incident of trade secret theft can have a devastating impact on a business. \u00a0Here are a few measures employers should undertake to safeguard their information:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Require new and existing employees to sign non-disclosure covenants.<\/li>\n
  2. Identify and inventory the company\u2019s trade secrets.<\/li>\n
  3. Identify current measures to secure trade secrets and evaluate the effectiveness of these measures.<\/li>\n
  4. Segregate trade secrets to be treated differently than other non-sensitive information.<\/li>\n
  5. Limit access to databases, documents or devices containing sensitive information through the use of passwords.<\/li>\n
  6. Use employee monitoring software to record and block computer activities.<\/li>\n
  7. Track who accesses information.<\/li>\n
  8. Develop, disseminate and train employees on policies concerning the use of company-issued computers and electronic devices.<\/li>\n
  9. Label sensitive documents as \u201cconfidential\u201d or \u201csecret\u201d.<\/li>\n
  10. Discard and shred printed copies of sensitive documents after use.<\/li>\n
  11. Prohibit employees from taking confidential information home with them.<\/li>\n
  12. Conduct exit interviews and discuss with departing employees whether they have returned all company property.<\/li>\n
  13. Consult promptly with counsel when you are suspicious an employee has taken company information.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    The BlueZebra Sports case shows, that when given the chance, employees will access information of interest to them, even if they are not authorized to do so. Given the rise in trade secret theft and the fact that technology makes it more challenging to prevent employee theft, it is more important than ever for employers to be proactive in protecting their sensitive information.<\/p>\n

    As in all sports, the key to obtaining success in this area is to develop a sound game plan and then execute it. \u00a0Having a \u201ctrade secrets\u201d game plan will help prevent your company from being the victim of trade secret theft. And if theft does occur, despite your best efforts, the plan will help your company persuade the court to restrict the offending employee\u2019s use of the information and keep him or her on the sideline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    ESPN reported on October 30 that\u00a0several college basketball referees were disciplined for accessing unauthorized information on a website. According to sources of ESPN, login information to the officiating site \u2013BlueZebraSports.com \u2013was compromised and passed on to several referees.\u00a0 The referees gained the ability to access compensation of other officials as well as game scheduling information.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_mo_disable_npp":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,9,10],"tags":[86,19,85,87],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFoul Called on College Refs Who Accessed Unauthorized Information<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"ESPN reported on October 30 that several college basketball referees were disciplined for accessing unauthorized information on a website.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/foul-called-college-refs-accessed-unauthorized-information\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Foul Called on College Refs Who Accessed Unauthorized Information\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ESPN reported on October 30 that several college basketball referees were disciplined for accessing unauthorized information on a website.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/foul-called-college-refs-accessed-unauthorized-information\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Berman Fink Van Horn P.C.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-10-31T19:18:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ken Winkler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ken Winkler\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/foul-called-college-refs-accessed-unauthorized-information\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/foul-called-college-refs-accessed-unauthorized-information\/\",\"name\":\"Foul Called on College Refs Who Accessed Unauthorized Information\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-31T19:18:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-10-31T19:18:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0bdd515c852a347a4fad0fd9a856021f\"},\"description\":\"ESPN reported on October 30 that several college basketball referees were disciplined for accessing unauthorized information on a website.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/foul-called-college-refs-accessed-unauthorized-information\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/foul-called-college-refs-accessed-unauthorized-information\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/foul-called-college-refs-accessed-unauthorized-information\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Foul Called on College Refs Who Accessed Unauthorized Information\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/\",\"name\":\"Berman Fink Van Horn P.C.\",\"description\":\"A Business Law Firm In Atlanta\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0bdd515c852a347a4fad0fd9a856021f\",\"name\":\"Ken Winkler\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ken Winkler\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/author\/ken-winkler\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Foul Called on College Refs Who Accessed Unauthorized Information","description":"ESPN reported on October 30 that several college basketball referees were disciplined for accessing unauthorized information on a website.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/foul-called-college-refs-accessed-unauthorized-information\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Foul Called on College Refs Who Accessed Unauthorized Information","og_description":"ESPN reported on October 30 that several college basketball referees were disciplined for accessing unauthorized information on a website.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/foul-called-college-refs-accessed-unauthorized-information\/","og_site_name":"Berman Fink Van Horn P.C.","article_published_time":"2014-10-31T19:18:02+00:00","author":"Ken Winkler","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ken Winkler","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/foul-called-college-refs-accessed-unauthorized-information\/","url":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/foul-called-college-refs-accessed-unauthorized-information\/","name":"Foul Called on College Refs Who Accessed Unauthorized Information","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-10-31T19:18:02+00:00","dateModified":"2014-10-31T19:18:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0bdd515c852a347a4fad0fd9a856021f"},"description":"ESPN reported on October 30 that several college basketball referees were disciplined for accessing unauthorized information on a website.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/foul-called-college-refs-accessed-unauthorized-information\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/foul-called-college-refs-accessed-unauthorized-information\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/foul-called-college-refs-accessed-unauthorized-information\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Foul Called on College Refs Who Accessed Unauthorized Information"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/","name":"Berman Fink Van Horn P.C.","description":"A Business Law Firm In Atlanta","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0bdd515c852a347a4fad0fd9a856021f","name":"Ken Winkler","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ken Winkler"},"url":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/author\/ken-winkler\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}