UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) (Complex projects on information security)

2020: Ensuring round-the-clock monitoring and blocking of illegal video

On March 5, 2020 Group-IB, the international company specializing in prevention of cyber attacks reported that since the beginning of 2019 it revealed and blocked more than 77,000 links to illegal broadcastings and records of duels of UFC, the international sports organization holding mixed martial arts competitions around the world. During the specified period at pirates fight on the UFC 242 tournament between Habib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Porye enjoyed the greatest popularity, and social networks became the most large-scale channel of promotion of piracy video in Russia.

The round-the-clock monitoring and blocking of illegal video content with fights of UFC is conducted by the Group-IB Anti-Piracy command within the agreement between UFC and Group-IB on counteraction to Internet piracy signed in October, 2018 in Russia.

Cooperation with Group-IB on protection of content of UFC very much helped to reduce significantly the level of piracy of broadcasts of UFC in Russia. Cooperation of UFC with Roskomnadzor which monitors observance of regulations and requirements for protection of intellectual property in the country and undertakes measures for protection of interests of owners became an essential factor also. We hope to develop further our activities for fight against illegal sports broadcastings which cause huge damage to the Russian sport, - Andrey Gromkovsky, the Vice president of UFC for Russia and the CIS.

Most "fruitful" month by the number of the links blocked by experts of Group-IB Anti-Piracy there was a September, nearly 40% of total number of the eliminated resources — more than 30,000 were the share of it.

At the same time the Group-IB Brand Protection command detected more than 300 violations with illegitimate use of names of fighters of UFC on social networks, first of all, in Instagram. The majority of the detected accounts used images of stars of UFC in the advertizing purposes, for example, for promotion of services of illegal bookmaker offices. Some publications detected by experts of Group-IB in Instagram enticed users on fraudulent websites, such as online casino, or extorted personal data under the pretext of a draw of cars or other valuable prizes. Most often swindlers used Habib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Dustin Porye, Tony Ferguson's names and Magomedsharipova Is killed.

Online pirates earn millions from the organization of illegal relayings of sports competitions, theft of official videos and illegal use of names of stars of sport. Enjoying confidence of fans, malefactors try to involve them in fraudulent schemes which are promoted at the expense of big names of athletes and by that cause damage to their personal brands. Actions of Group-IB for protection of a brand and content do "work' of swindlers economically unprofitable. UFC contributes significantly to fight against piracy in Russia, our joint fight against cyberswindlers does life of millions of admirers of league in the country of safer, saving them from toxic resources on which they can begin to become the victims of fraud, to compromise the data or to pick up virus software, - Andrey Busargin the Director of the department of the innovation protection of a brand and the intellectual property of Group-IB

In general, as already noted Group-IB, the popularity legal strimingovy and a video hosting services grows in Russia: in 2019 the company for the first time in five years recorded decrease in size of the market of online piracy. More and more users prefer high quality of the picture, uninterrupted broadcastings without the imposed advertizing, redirects and probability to pick up a virus on a suspicious resource.