Paris, France—The French government cyber security agency on Thursday warned that ransomware attacks will be “inevitable” during the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris.
For two years, French officials have been preparing to fight off an unprecedented level of cyber attacks at the Olympic Games which begin in Paris on July 26.
The kaleidescope of threats could come from criminal groups, states such as Russia that are eager to undermine the Games, “hacktivists” with ideological ambitions or gamblers.
Government cyber security agency Anssi expressed confidence that security teams would cope despite the threat of such attacks, but said it was “unrealistic” to expect that all of them would be avoided.
“It’s absolutely certain and inevitable that ransomware attacks will occur during the Games,” the agency said. “And statistically, there is a high chance that ransomware attacks will affect actors who will be involved in the Games.”
Ransomware exploits security flaws to encrypt and block computer systems, demanding a ransom from a user or an organisation to unlock them.
The aim, said Anssi, is “to ensure that most attacks fail, and that we react quickly and effectively to attacks that we cannot avoid, in order to limit their impact.”
Fending off such attacks is primarily the responsibility of Anssi and the interior ministry, with backup from the cyber defense arm of the defense ministry (Comcyber).
The Olympic Games have often been the target of cyber attacks in the past.
During the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics held in 2021, organisers reported 450 million such operations, twice as many as during the 2012 London Olympics.
Marie-Rose Bruno, director of technology and information systems for the Paris games, said he expected “eight to ten times more” cyber attacks than those seen at the games in Tokyo.
Anssi also warned about possible denial-of-service attacks from various activist groups that would use the Olympics to promote their cause.
“Another thing that’s almost a certainty is everything to do with activism, groups that vary greatly in nature, all of whom have messages pro something or against something, who are there to make noise, to create a buzz,” the agency said.
These groups “don’t do very serious things, because their main modus operandi is denial of service,” Anssi said, adding those attacks would not have any long-term “destructive effect.”
“But this kind of thing is obviously visible,” the agency said.
