Olympics face serious risk of malicious cyber activity
The Olympic Games begin next week in Paris and cybersecurity company WithSecure is warning that they face a greater risk of cyberattack than ever due to the current state of geopolitical uncertainty.
As the world's biggest sporting event, the Olympics draws potential attacks from both criminal and nation-state threat actors, with various objectives and capabilities.
"We strongly believe that the Paris Olympics will face a greater threat of malicious cyber activity than previous Olympics," says Tim West, director of threat intelligence and outreach at WithSecure. “Hacktivists aligned with states that are pro-Russia will almost certainly try to disrupt the Olympics in some way. We assess that the level of threat these groups pose to the Olympics is moderate."
Attackers seek opportunities to exploit people's attention around the event, such as the fraudulent sales of fake, cheap tickets or free tour notifications. They often target organizers and sponsors too, hijack events or associated sites to send political messages, and hijack relay network equipment to gain a foothold for cyber attacks.
Host nation France is acutely aware of the prestige that comes with hosting the Olympics. But hackers also know that successful cyberattacks can diminish that prestige. As a result, the direct and indirect impact of successful attacks on individuals, companies, and organizations can be immeasurable. Russian state-sponsored activity is assessed as being a moderate to high threat.
There is a history of attacks targeting the games, most famously the 'Olympics Destroyer' malware launched during the 2016 Rio games
"There are numerous threats to the Olympics, with varying levels of motivation and capabilities, and a successful cyber security operation will be a great challenge for the Olympic authorities," adds West. "This being said, the defenders will also be well-equipped and will be able to take advantage of the lessons learned from past Olympics."
The full report is available on the WithSecure site.
Image credit: Natalia Khimich/Dreamstime.com