The Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang have taken the games to a connected level the likes of which have not been seen before, and hackers took the opportunity to make their mark – at the opening ceremony nonetheless.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) gave no indication of who was behind the attack, which affected internet and television service.
“We are not going to comment on the issue. It is one we are dealing with. We are making sure our systems are secure and they are secure” said IOC spokesman Mark Adams.
The Pyeongchang organising committee told reporters that these types of issues “occur frequently” and that they’d taken the decision along with the IOC not to reveal the source of the attack.
Spokesman Sung Baik-you also confirmed that the issue, which caused the Games website to go down and prevented people from printing tickets, had now been resolved.
The attack has not come completely out of the blue, with McAfee Advanced Threat Research analysts unearthing a criminal campaign that targeted organisations involved in the Olympics using a malicious Microsoft Word document attached in an email.
Just last month, cyber security researchers implicated Russia-based hackers in a possible attack, with early signs they may be planning a retaliation to their country’s ban from this year’s Games.
A number of the Games sponsors have since taken out insurance to protect against future potential cyber attacks.
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