Padres Social Media Accounts Hacked

Two nights ago the official Padres Twitter account tweeted “Stay tuned” accompanied by bulging eyes emoji. Not long after a post on Instagram teased a possible long-rumored signing of free agent Eric Hosmer. The social media posts were quickly deleted.

The next morning the Padres claimed they were hacked.

Padres' social media accounts were hacked; no imminent agreement with Eric Hosmer - The San Diego Union-Tribune

“The Padres social media accounts were inappropriately accessed last night, and messages that were inaccurate and unauthorized were posted,” the Padres said in a statement. “MLB Cybersecurity is now investigating the matter, and we apologize for any confusion.”

Look, I didn’t believe the tired ol’ hack story either because that’s always the first excuse, but as the day went on #PadresTwitter started piecing together what might have happened. Prior to the hack a Padres employee tweeted a celebratory picture of her laptop screen (featuring Trevor Hoffman), desk and a flute of champagne. Some noticed that the tweet was deleted the next day. This was just the clue they needed. Nobody had the picture but they remembered that there were Post-it notes on the cubicle walls and they suspected that the Padres’ social media password was written on one of them.

I came home last night and realized that the tweet was still alive and well on my iPad. I investigated further. Sure enough a password can be seen on a Post-it right above the champagne.

I’ve lowered the resolution of the above picture to protect any other secrets hidden in it. However, if you zoom in on the original you can see the password, probably set around the 2016 All-Star Game hosted in San Diego. Since presumably the passwords have been changed, I’ll assume it’s safe to share now: “Padres16!”

This feeling of exhilaration must be the same one Nancy Drew feels when she cracks a case. I’m riding such a high right now my ears are popping.