Gareth Southgate’s England side to get crash-course in cyber security amid fears Russian hackers could target World Cup

ENGLAND stars will get a crash-course in cyber security amid fears Russian hackers could target next year’s World Cup finals.

FA chiefs wrote to Fifa after a group called Fancy Bears — which is believed to be Russian — went public with medical files stolen from the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Gareth Southgate is taking seriously the threat of a cyber attack

PA:Press Association

England footballers will be told to limit their time on social media

Gareth Southgate’s squad will be ordered not to use public or hotel wi-fi and cut down on social media to avoid its tactical data and confidential fitness details being leaked.

The fear is if they don’t then players could risk being exposed to attempts at extortion.

Southgate needs two more points against Slovenia and Lithuania next month to confirm the Three Lions’ World Cup ticket.

FA chiefs have already beefed up its own IT systems — but fear Fifa will not be much help ahead of Russia 2018.

The FA said: “Fifa is investigating the Fancy Bears incident to ascertain if its infrastructure was compromised. But it does not provide any computer security advice.”

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