Hackers are also playing along: How cybercriminals attack sports events

The Olympics are all about athletic competition. But the Games and many other sporting events have long been the target of cybercriminals.  

Whether it was the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Pyeongchang or Tokyo, the Tour de France or the recent pan-European Championship, cybercriminals have carried out attacks on participating systems and networks at all of these major sporting events in recent years. But also state actors have tried to disrupt the games by cyberattacks in the past, as this report shows. The attackers’ goal here has usually been to use the big stage for themselves and humiliate the rival nation. Criminals, on the other hand, often target users’ private customer data that accumulates around sporting events.