Cricket has also gone online, and that means it’s now vulnerable in ways most fans don’t usually think about. Team meetings now happen on encrypted apps. Training sessions are monitored by wearables. Even sponsorship and scouting deals are finalized through cloud platforms.
That convenience, however, has opened new doors for hackers and scammers trying to exploit the sport’s massive online footprint.
The Growing Digital Risk in Cricket
Every major IPL franchise now runs a stack of digital systems. That includes communication apps, player monitoring dashboards, fitness and diet trackers, and social media management tools.
All of these store valuable data: player health metrics, team strategies, and private messages between coaches and analysts.
Last year, a few domestic clubs reported suspicious login attempts into their training data systems. Cybersecurity firms have since warned that such incidents often start with cloned apps or phishing emails that look identical to sponsor communications.
The global context adds pressure too. Similar attacks have hit football and F1 teams in 2023, and those just pushed Indian sports tech firms to act quickly.
It’s where app developers now play their biggest role. After all, they’re building security right into the infrastructure instead of treating it as an afterthought.
Interestingly, even public searches for where to find the most secure cricket betting apps in 2025 have increased this year. That’s only good because it shows that awareness about cybersecurity in the sports sector, even among casual fans, now exists.
How Indian Developers Are Responding
Cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune have become the core of sports-tech innovation. Developers are building specialized systems for teams, players, and fans that rely on encryption, multi-factor authentication, and strict user verification.
Startups such as SportsMechanics and FanCode have announced stronger encryption frameworks after previous attempts at unauthorized data scraping.
Dream Sports, parent company of Dream11, has also increased its data protection layers through audit logs and user-consent systems for fantasy users.
Meanwhile, smaller developers working with state-level cricket associations now provide closed-network apps where coaches can upload tactics, fitness reports, and video footage without external sharing.
App audits are becoming standard, too. Platforms like TheTopBookies, a popular sports news and analysis site from India, run periodic checks to ensure all third-party data integrations are safe.
The Common Threats Developers Now Track
Indian cybersecurity firms like Quick Heal Technologies and Lucideus (now SAFE Security) are working with sports startups to track attempted breaches. Here are the main risks they’re monitoring:
- Phishing emails disguised as tournament invites or sponsor messages.
- Fake fitness and score-tracking apps that copy popular platforms.
- Unauthorized GPS data leaks through wearables that log player movements.
- DDoS attacks on fan platforms during high-traffic matches.
All of those are especially worrying during IPL and ICC events, when traffic spikes and personal devices connect to multiple networks in hotels, stadiums, and travel hubs. But yes, there are already developers doing their best to fight them.
The Collaboration Model
There’s now clear cooperation between sports boards, app developers, and cybersecurity teams. Here are some that have been reported in the past:
- SportsMechanics manages secure data-sharing systems for franchises.
- Dream Sports Foundation sponsors cyber audits for affiliated sports partners.
- NASSCOM is supporting “Safe Sports Data” projects that incubate startups focused on secure athlete communication.
- The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) also revised its app compliance guidelines this year, extending them to sports-based apps that handle personal information of athletes. This includes fitness data, biometric tracking, and communication metadata, all of which must now stay on servers located in India.
Roles of Cricket Fans in Cybersecurity
Now, cybersecurity in cricket isn’t just about the safety of key players in the industry or the actual players themselves. Fans also play a role in keeping the digital sports space safe.
Apps like FanCode, Cricbuzz, and TheTopBookies now use token-based logins and secure data-sharing to minimize leaks. So, they let users know when their activity history or login sessions are accessed from new devices. It’s not new, but it’s still an effective way to keep online access secure.
For other content platforms, the bigger risk isn’t just hacking. They’re also battling fake news and data manipulation. Because of that, some websites have added backend verification for user-generated comments and contributor submissions. That way, it’s harder for fake accounts to publish misleading match updates or sponsor posts.
What Comes Next
We know that there are already Indian developers who are testing blockchain-based access systems to control who views or edits player data. This way, transparency is also easily shown on how data is being protected.
We will also probably see more unified safety protocols between the BCCI, private leagues, and digital vendors in the coming years.
Overall, even if cybersecurity doesn’t make headlines like match results, it has already become one of the pillars of modern cricket.
