Welcome to the Cyber-Olympics

Just when you thought we were all holding hands across the world, this happens. Malware intended to disrupt the Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang succeeded in taking away Internet and media services from journalists covering the event. According to Cisco’s Talos division, this malware was also intended to delete shadow files and event logs. The culprits behind this attack appear to be Russia and North Korea. Some are suggesting Russia’s Olympics hacking was in retaliation for it’s athletes being banned from participation by the IOC, while others are saying North Korea was hacking because…well, just because.

And it turns out the cyberattacks weren’t limited solely to the Olympic stadium. There seems to have been another coordinated cyberattack happening in parallel with the games that McAfee has dubbed Operation GoldDragon. Operation GoldDragon appears to have been designed to plant spyware on victims’ machines (at hotels, event centers, etc.) for the purposes of espionage. So much for that warm-fuzzy-Olympics-feeling.