Microsoft Warns That Russian Hackers Are Targeting the 2020 Olympics

In an official blog post on Monday (Oct. 28), Microsoft corporate vice-president of customer security and trust Tom Burt warned that Russia’s state-sanctioned hacking group, Strontium — also known as Fancy Bear — has carried out a series of cyberattacks against organizations related to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

The attacks, which reportedly began on Sept. 16, targeted “16 national and international sporting and anti-doping organizations across three continents” and are believed to be in retaliation for the World Anti-Doping Agency threatening to ban Russia from the Olympics and other international competitions. The Russian national team was banned from the 2018 Olympics over doping allegations as well, and Fancy Bear launched several cyberattacks in response that year.

This time around, Microsoft notes, the group is using tactics like spear-phishing, password-spraying and malware in its attacks — methods that Burt notes are “routinely used by Strontium to target governments, militaries, think tanks, law firms, human rights organizations, financial firms and universities around the world.”

Specific victims of the Olympics-related hacking are not being identified for security purposes, but Burt says that Microsoft “has notified all customers targeted in these attacks and has worked with those who have sought our help to secure compromised accounts or systems.”

In the meantime, Japanese officials are reportedly scrambling to help beef up their cybersecurity ahead of the games next year. “The Japanese originally saw defending the Olympics as a way to improve their general cybersecurity skills,” James Lewis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies told the MIT Technology Review. “Now they’re not quite in panic mode, but they’re not sure if they’ve done enough. But they’ve got time to see if they can prop that up.”

Subscribe here for our free daily newsletter.