2024-07-16 11:50:58
A Finnish cybersecurity company expects the Paris Olympics to be subject to a large number of cyberattacks, especially by Russian hacking groups, according to a study published today, cited by DPA. This was reported by BTA.
Experts from Finnish cybersecurity company WithSecure said organizers of this year’s Summer Olympics in Paris should prepare for a higher risk of cyberattacks than previous editions “due to geopolitical turmoil.”
In its report, the company pointed to Russia as the most likely source of cyberattacks, with experts claiming to have identified three groups intent on disrupting the normal running of the games – Moscow-sponsored groups, private hacking activists and ordinary cybercriminals.
Russian and Belarusian athletes are only allowed to compete at the Paris Olympics under a neutral flag because of Moscow’s war in Ukraine. They are also excluded from participating in the opening ceremony and are not allowed to have any connection with the military, DPA noted.
WitSecure also sees an increased risk of cyber attacks by hackers from China, North Korea and Iran. Experts also point to hacker groups and organized cybercriminals outside of Russia as a potential risk factor. The main goal of the attackers will be to break into the networks of the organizers to encrypt data and disrupt the running of the event, according to experts.
Hacker activist groups, usually formed on Telegram platform channels, often focus on so-called denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, flooding websites with access requests to taking them down.
“Hacker activist groups have emerged around all poles of current conflicts,” experts say. “Pro-Russian, pro-Ukrainian, pro-Palestinian, and pro-Israeli groups conduct denial-of-service attacks (mostly) and hacking to leak information almost constantly,” the company added.
According to the study, the core networks of the Olympic Games are well protected against cyber-attacks, meaning that the risk of disruption is low to moderate. “However, the risk to other networks operating externally but still within the realm of the Olympic Games is moderate,” the report concluded.