FBI: Cybercriminals Eyeing Broadcast Disruption at Tokyo Olympics
The Tokyo Olympics, set to open Friday night, are already being targeted by threat actors — however, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cyber Division has issued a chilling warning the Games’ TV broadcast is likely to be plagued by attacks, since it will be the only way to view events now that spectators have been barred due to COVID-19 concerns.
“Adversaries could use social-engineering and phishing campaigns in the leadup to the event to obtain access or use previously obtained access to implant malware to disrupt affected networks during the event,” the FBI notification said. “Social-engineering and phishing campaigns continue to provide adversaries with the access needed to carry out such attacks.”
The FBI added that in general, the Olympics will attract both run-of-the-mill cybercriminals and nation-state actors who want to “make money, sow confusion, increase their notoriety, discredit adversaries and advance ideological goals.”
