As Paris gets ready for the Paralympic Games, experts warn that cyber risks remain and organisations should be vigilant to protect against disruption
Whilst the Paris 2024 Olympic Games were hailed a global success, the event was not without its share of cyber challenges.
With the Paralympic Games set to start on 28th August 2024, there is still a need to be vigilant of so-called cyber threat actors who are ready to cause disruption for both athletes, organisers and spectators alike.
“We aren’t across the finish line yet – everyone involved in the Paralympic Games must remain alert and consider the continued cyber risks,” comments Steve Bradford, Senior Vice President EMEA at SailPoint.
Steve Bradford, Senior Vice President EMEA at SailPoint.
“Technological developments, interconnected networks and a complex geopolitical landscape heighten the risk of cyberattacks.”
Threat actors eager to disrupt essential services
During the Olympics, the French government cybersecurity agency ANSSI recorded hundreds of reports corresponding to both low-impact security events, in addition to 22 incidents where a malicious actor successfully targeted a victim’s information system.
According to ANSSI, the attacks predominantly targeted government entities as well as sports, transport and telecoms infrastructure. It states that one-third of these were downtime incidents, half of which were due to distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks designed to overwhelm servers.
DDoS attacks are a form of denial-of-service attacks that originate from more than one source and are designed to create more attacking traffic against an essential service. These attacks are currently on the rise, with our sister publication Cyber Magazine reporting a 112% rise in DDoS attacks between 2022 and 2023, with 2,127 attacks recorded in 2023 alone.
Hackers are viewing the swathes of tourists, athletes, sports federations and partner companies currently in Paris as a golden opportunity to cause disruption and infiltrate essential data and services.
French government cybersecurity agency ANSSI recorded hundreds of cyber incidents
SailPoint’s Steve advises caution, saying: “Companies involved in the games need to be on constant alert and equip themselves with the tools they need to ensure their security. Everyone has a role to play in analysing their systems’ technical access levels. This is crucial to prevent gaps from opening up and the wrong identities creeping in.”
Exercising vigilance
Given that the Olympic Games was completed without a major cyber incident, organisers will now be hoping for the same with the Paralympics – stressing the importance of vigilance and preparation.
Possible attack surfaces for the games are diverse, as cybercriminals could exploit the public through fraudulent activity. In addition, more sophisticated actors could target the infrastructure of the Games itself by disrupting events or hijacking broadcast signals to spread harmful messages.
Speaking ahead of the Olympics, Tim West, Director of Threat Intelligence and Outreach at WithSecure, emphasised the heightened risk, saying: “We strongly believe that the Paris Olympics will face a greater threat of malicious cyber activity than previous Olympics.
Tim West, Director of Threat Intelligence and Outreach at WithSecure.
“Hacktivists aligned with pro-Russia states, in particular, will almost certainly try to disrupt the Olympics in some way.”
Cybersecurity experts have suggested that the volume of people and interconnected data in the Games environment leads to greater opportunities for threat actors. It was reported that 450 million cyberattacks were inflicted on the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games, with rising threat levels remaining a top concern for event organisers.
“Frequent communication between departments is also essential, as is prevention and training for stakeholders,” Steve notes. “Cyber security during major events like these is a collective challenge requiring vigilance, preparation and cooperation at every level.”
