ThreatConnect Finds Signs Of Potential Russian Cyber Attacks During Games

Virginia-based cyber-security firm ThreatConnect Inc. said on Thursday that it had found "early indications that Russia-based hackers may be planning attacks against anti-doping agencies in retaliation for Russia's exclusion from next month's Winter Olympic Games," according to David Ingram of REUTERS. Researchers from ThreatConnect said that within the past month, "unknown people had registered three web domains that mimic those of" WADA, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and the Olympic Council of Asia. The moves "bore similarities" to the methods that a Russian hacking group known as Fancy Bears used in the past, the cybersecurity firm said in a report. The IOC and the Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment. ThreatConnect said that there was "no evidence that hackers had used the web domains maliciously, but that the domains could provide the building blocks for future attacks" (REUTERS, 1/11).