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Texas Tech athletics director Kirby Hocutt, on a conference call this week with other Big 12 ADs, raised questions about the security of the new coach-to-player helmet communication technology being used this season by Texas Tech football and all the other power-conference teams.
Hocutt told ESPN.com on Wednesday that he raised the issue after “learning the Red Raiders’ helmet communications were unencrypted and accessible to anyone with a scanner and knowledge of how to locate the frequencies.”
Tech senior associate athletics director Robert Giovannetti told the Avalanche-Journal the Red Raiders were made aware on Tuesday after a frequency coordinator whom he declined to otherwise identify contacted Tech coach Joey McGuire. Giovannetti said the frequency coordinator had previously told some other schools about the system’s vulnerability.
“When Kirby found out other schools might have known before we did, he asked (the Big 12) for a review,” Giovannetti said, “just to make sure the integrity of our games was not compromised. He requested that of the league to do that. … I do know that the league is accommodating our request.”
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Giovannetti said the Big 12 has asked teams to send back their communications systems for encryption upgrades to GSC, the provider for all 68 power-conference schools this season. It’s expected they can be updated and returned before Saturday’s games.
Giovannetti said the next step from Tech’s standpoint is finding out what emerges from the Big 12 review.
“Us requesting this is part of the league’s sportsmanship policy,” Giovannetti said. “If you bring a concern to the league, they’ll do a review and provide a report of their findings….
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/texas-tech-ad-kirby-hocutt-002551090.html
Author : Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Publish date : 2024-10-31 00:25:51
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