The targets:รย The attacks were aimed at at least รขโฌล16 national and international sporting and anti-doping organizations across three continentsรขโฌย and began in mid-September, according to a blog post from Microsoft, whose security researchersรย detected the attacks. Several were successful, but most were not. The hackers used tactics like spear-phishing,รย password spraying, and exploiting internet-connected devices.
Repeat offenders:รย The hacking group responsible, known widely as Fancy Bear or Strontium, is a unit of Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU.รย It was most famously responsible for attacks against the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 American election. But its rรยฉsumรยฉ stretchesรย back far longer: Ukraine, NATO, French television, and American think tanks have all been victims.
Olympic grievances:รย The attacks, Microsoft notes, began days before the World Anti-Doping Agency threatened toรย ban Russian athletesรย from the Olympics and other major sporting events. Fancy Bear launched repeatedรย successful cyberattacks against the 2018 Winter Olympicsรย after the Russian team was suspended from it, also over doping charges.
That campaign included internet disruptions during the opening ceremony of the games, leaked emails, a global disinformation operation, and broad infections and theft of data from Olympic Games systems.
Read MIT Technology Review, Cyberscoop, Wired
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