Russia's Moves to Attack Tokyo Olympics
Seemingly Retaliation for Olympic Ban Due to State-Sponsored Doping
[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The main culprit behind the hacking incident that caused website access disruptions during the opening ceremony of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics has been identified as the Russian military intelligence agency. It is also known that Russia had prepared hacking attacks for the Tokyo Summer Olympics, which were postponed from this year to next year.
On the 9th (local time), according to the British daily The Guardian, the U.S. Department of Justice and the UK Foreign Office indicted six agents belonging to the Russian military intelligence agency, the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (GRU) unit '74455', on charges of cyberattacks against the Pyeongchang Olympics, Tokyo Olympics, and the Ukrainian power grid.
According to the UK government, the Russian GRU's cyber unit attempted to disrupt the Olympics and Paralympics during the Pyeongchang Olympics by hacking to prevent ticket printing and causing Wi-Fi crashes inside the venues. The UK government stated it is 95% confident that GRU 74455 conducted a series of hacks. Furthermore, the GRU disguised their actions by making it appear as if the hacking was carried out by North Korean or Chinese hackers.
The targets of the attacks were broadcasters, ski resorts, Olympic officials, and Olympic sponsors, not limited to South Korea. John Demers, U.S. Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General for National Security, said, "The hackers launched the 'Olympic Destroyer' malware attack during the Olympic opening ceremony, which erased data from thousands of computers, rendering them inoperable." They attacked equipment and IT systems using VPNs.
In fact, on February 9, 2018, during the Pyeongchang Olympics opening ceremony, the organizing committee and major partners were subjected to cyberattacks. At that time, the organizing committee's website experienced access disruptions, and servers were damaged. The organizing committee stated that the hacking was "unlikely to have been carried out by North Korea."
The Russian GRU is also known to have prepared attacks on the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics scheduled for this year. They prepared attacks not only on the games' organizing committee but also on logistics services and sponsors; however, the hacking attacks did not materialize due to the postponement of the Olympics caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Russia has conducted cyberattacks using state agencies for political purposes. The cyberattacks on the Olympic events are interpreted as retaliation for the ban on Russian Olympic athletes from attending the Olympic venues under the Russian flag. In 2017, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) barred the Russian team from participating in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, holding Russia responsible for the state-sponsored doping scandal during the Sochi Winter Olympics.
UK government officials pointed out that Russia committed these acts despite having signed the Olympic Truce, which prohibits any actions that could disrupt or destabilize the games during the Olympic period.
The UK government also claimed that Russia conducted cyberattacks targeting Ukraine, the United States, and Georgia, in addition to the Olympics.
Dominic Raab, UK Foreign Secretary, who disclosed the Russian GRU hacking attacks, stated, "We will continue to cooperate with our allies and jointly respond to future cyberattacks."
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