It appears that Russian hackers were behind a cyberattack against the 2018 Winter Olympic Games opening ceremony, reports The Washington Post. To make matters worse, it appears as though the Russian hackers wanted to make it look like North Korea was responsible for the attack.
The Post cited officials from the US intelligence community, saying that Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) gained access to approximately 300 computers, hacked routers, and distributed the malware in the lead-up to the event, as well as during the event’s opening ceremonies. It’s worth mentioning that the contests themselves were not affected.
Officials have speculated that the attack by Russian hackers was in retaliation for the ban on Russian athletes because of a systematic doping scheme. The Post added that the GRU used North Korean IP addresses to mask their alleged attack and cover their tracks to shift the blame. North Korea has had its own set of tensions with South Korea and the United States in recent years.
Winter Olympic officials confirmed that the cyberattack took place at the beginning of the game, but didn’t reveal who was behind the attack. Because of the attack, the internet was taken down and the Wi-Fi access during the opening ceremonies also suffered, as well as the event’s website.
