Knicks ownership says it used employee championship rings email as phishing bait

The ownership group behind the NBA champion New York Knicks, Madison Square Garden Sports, is admitting to using a fake offer to claim a Knicks championship ring as bait in a simulated phishing attack.

A company spokesperson said an email was sent to its corporate team "as a simulation of a phishing attack designed to strengthen our security against hackers," in a statement on Friday.

The statement comes after a report from The Athletic detailed the arrival of an email at the end of September offering some Madison Square Garden employees a personalized championship ring to celebrate the Knicks' historic run.

Instead, the Athletic reported, citing sources, those employees who clicked on the link had to attend a cybersecurity class.

In the statement, the spokesperson for MSG Sports confirmed the rings were used as a "lure" and called the move "an unfortunate mistake."

"MSG was recently hacked and extorted using an employee login and password obtained through a similar phishing attack. Using the rings as a lure to gain employees attention was an unfortunate mistake," the spokesperson said in their statement.

MSG Sports will gift "more than 275 championship rings and jewelry to players, coaches, employees and other members of the Knicks family," the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson's statement noted the combined worth of the gifted items is over $3.7 million.

Phishing is a type of cyberattack that aims to bait individuals into revealing private data or information, often through deceptive email or text messages. 

Companies regularly run simulated attacks to teach employees to stay vigilant against them. 

The Knicks welcomed fans back to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday for the first regular-season game since winning the NBA Championship in five games, taking down the San Antonio Spurs while lighting New York City ablaze with joy.