CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For the first time, the NFL Draft will be held virtually, with coaches, general managers, owners and scouts all at their individual homes.
All communication will be done through video conferencing and over phone lines.
But that could cause some uninvited guests to pop up.
"There's no doubt that there could be some type of a challenge," said Theresa Payton, CEO of Charlotte-based cybersecurity firm Fortalice Solutions.
Payton was the first female White House Chief Information Officer under President George W. Bush, and has an upcoming book about cybersecurity and elections.
She says no doubt -- there will be cybercriminals trying to hack the NFL Draft.
"Every point of presence in my mind," she said, "is a potential point of failure."
Payton says hackers could do anything from look to infiltrate communication lines to get leads on gambling...to completely shutting down the draft...or crashing the party.
"They may have no axe to grind per-say with the NFL," she said, "but they have a message that they want to get out. The best way to do it is to commandeer a platform."
The NFL has not revealed the exact platforms that will be used for external communication...but will *not* use Zoom to talk from team to team or team to league. The videoconferencing company has had issues lately with hackers. But Payton says that can happen on *any* platform.
"What I always say to people is find the platform that works for you that works for your mission, then really understand the privacy and security settings," said Payton.
So when you watch Thursday's draft -- know that as hard as the teams are working to make the picks...their IT departments are working hard to keep things secure.
"Having run big operations like this in the past, my hats are off to them," said Payton. "If glitches happen, that doesn't mean they didn't do a great job and didn't have the best and brightest on it, they're just turning around something pretty incredible."