Russians might be smart but they could not outsmart the lawmakers. North Korea was in the news for hacking the Olympics, but new reports show a different side of the story.
According to US intelligence officials, it was Russia’s GRU agency that was behind these attacks and not North Korea, which was originally blamed for the move.
The attack involved hacking of over 300 computers, all related to the Olympics. The attack first initiated in January and continued throughout February. Not just PCs, but routers and other devices were said to have been hacked as well.
According to the US sources, Russian hackers carefully planned the hack and made it look like an attempt by North Korean hackers. They used tactics, such as using North Korean IPs, to fool the authorities, but failed in doing so.
The opening ceremony was badly affected due to this and even prevented many guests from printing their tickets. While there is no evidence to suggest that Russia was directly involved in the hack, experts are still looking into the matter and have ruled out the possibility of North Korea being involved in this hack.
Moreover, Russia had a motive as well. The country was banned after doping issues and was very angry over the decision. In addition to this, Russia has been previously involved in Olympics hacks as the country released Olympic athletes’ data in 2016.
Most agree that North Korea cannot be behind the attacks as the country was using this time to improve relations with its neighbour. This looks like the case of Russians hacking the Olympics and trying to put the blame on someone else.