It turned out that the connection of the student’s helmet is vulnerable

This season, coaches have been communicating with players through helmets on unencrypted frequencies in games involving Power 4 teams, leading to the possibility that the game could be intercepted by unauthorized people using certain scanners.

The SEC acknowledged that it was aware of the issue, which was first reported by The Athletic on Wednesday, and that it had contacted other conferences and helmet manufacturer GSC about the issue.

“We are not aware of any incidents of system hacking during games,” the SEC said in a statement. “GSC has developed an update to address this issue and we have advised our schools of their option to update their systems at their own convenience.”

All FBS conferences are using helmet contact this season after the NCAA passed a rule allowing them to be used. The SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC all employ GSC, which is also used by the NFL.

The Big Ten told The Associated Press it had no concerns about the encryption issue.

The Athletic reported that the vulnerability was discovered on Sept. 28 during an SEC game between Texas A&M and Arkansas, saying unauthorized access to the frequencies using scanners is possible but not easy.

Vulnerable communications are limited to the game and the instructions coaches give through helmets to players — usually an offensive lineman and a defensive lineman — to press a button to activate the system. Communication stops when the game clock reaches 15 seconds.

Last year, the Big Ten suspended Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh for three games over allegations that the Wolverines used video to steal opponents’ signals. The NCAA approved the helmet rule about six months after an investigation into the Michigan allegations began.