Winter Olympics could share podium with cyberattackers

When the Milano Cortina Winter Games begin Feb. 6, it won’t be just the athletes hunting for gold, but cybercriminals as well.

Everything is on the table, experts warn — from Wi-Fi and digital infrastructure disruptions like those seen at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, to distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) and ransomware attacks of the sort French authorities faced during the 2024 Olympics. State-linked cyber espionage could be part of the mix too.

Multiple factors will drive attacker interest in the Games, according to a threat assessment by Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 research team, including the massive concentration of people, systems, money, and data on the ground. High-profile attendees, including celebrities, politicians, and business leaders, will offer tempting targets for nation-state actors seeking strategic intelligence. Critical infrastructure supporting the Games — from power and water utilities to transit systems, ticketing platforms, and point-of-sale terminals — will all present opportunities for disruption and extortion, by those seeking to profit or simply to make a statement. And likely fueling at least some of those cyberattacks is today’s divisive geopolitical climate.

Read more at Dark Reading