Conor McGregor vs Khabib: Free live streaming of UFC fight on Twitter and Facebook pose risk for fans who watch online

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Live streams of the UFC 242 fight between Khabib and Poirier are set to spread across social media on Saturday (REUTERS)

Conor McGregor, 'The Notorious', is set to return to the Octagon on Saturday night for UFC 229, hoping to reclaim the lightweight title against Khabib Nurmagomedov.

The pair will face off on 6 October in Las Vegas, with those fans not lucky enough to get a ticket able to watch the fight live on BT Sport in the UK.

Alongside the legitimate ways of watching McGregor's bout, numerous illegal live streams are likely to be shared across social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

This has prompted cyber security experts to warn about the hacking risks UFC fans are exposing themselves to. Authorities are shutting down streams as fast as they can – but in so doing might be sending them to even more dangerous websites, they warn.

"Illegal streaming websites also tend to prompt adware in the form of pop-up windows that can look like software updates or even anti-virus messages that encourage users to click on them in order to install add-ons or run a virus scan," Joep Gommers, CEO of the security firm EclecticIQ, told The Independent.

"In reality, however, they do the opposite and download malware to the computer instead."

There has been a major crackdown on such sites in recent years, with organisations like FACT working with the rights holders to combat digital piracy and illegal streaming through websites and social media.

"Whether it’s a re-stream on social media, a piracy site, or using a device, box or stick connected to your TV, avoiding the official provider to access the fight is illegal," said Kieron Sharp, CEO of FACT.

"It is getting harder and harder to watch live sport illegally and so fans should be aware that if they were planning to watch the fight this way they are breaking the law.”

This crackdown may inadvertently lead to even more risk for sports fans seeking free ways to watch big events online. By shutting down relatively established streaming sites, viewers will turn to new sites that they may not trust.

Finding online live streams of pay-per-view UFC fights, like McGregor's, has seen many fans turn to social media. Searching keywords, such as the fighters' names, in the search bars of platforms like Twitter often throw up dozens of results with links leading to websites hosting illegal live streams that let fans watch online for free.

Steve Mulhearn, director of enhanced technologies at the cyber security firm Fortinet, said there will always be a select number of fans who look for ways to watch sport online free of charge.

"Of course, there is a requirement to challenge the piracy of these sites – the problem is it is exponentially increasing the risk to fans," Mr Mulhearn told The Independent.

Conor McGregor greets UFC President Dana White during a press conference for UFC 229 (Getty Images)

"Shutting down one streaming website just moves people elsewhere. The highly popular illegal sites are often popular because of the lack of malware, but these are first to be targeted by authorities. You are almost corralling people in the direction of the bad sites."

The solution, according to Mr Mulhearn, is for individuals to take cyber precautions. If a warning says there could be malicious code on the website, for example, they should not ignore it.

The threats from these sites are significantly higher than elsewhere, so live streamers should be aware not just of the illegal nature of the service they offer, but also the significant security threats they are putting themselves at risk to.