French authorities reported on Tuesday that over 140 cyberattacks were recorded during the Paris Olympics, although none of these incidents disrupted the sporting events. Throughout the lead-up to and during the Games, France’s cybersecurity agency, Anssi, maintained a heightened state of alert to guard against potential disruptions to the organising committee, ticketing, or transport.
Between 26 July and 11 August, Anssi documented 119 low-impact “security events” and 22 incidents where a “malicious actor” successfully targeted an information system. The cyberattacks primarily focused on government entities, as well as sports, transport, and telecoms infrastructure, according to the agency.
Anssi noted that one-third of these incidents involved downtime, with half of those caused by denial-of-service (DoS) attacks intended to overwhelm servers. Other cyber incidents included attempted or actual compromises and data disclosures, among others.
“All the cyber events that occurred during this period were generally characterised by their low impact,” Anssi stated.
In early August, a ransomware attack targeted the Grand Palais in Paris, which hosted Olympic events, along with around 40 other museums in France. However, Anssi confirmed that this attack did not affect any of the information systems related to the Games.
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Ransomware exploits security vulnerabilities to encrypt and block computer systems, demanding a ransom from users or organisations to restore access.
During the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, organisers reported 450 million such operations, twice the number recorded during the 2012 London Olympics.
Prior to the Paris Olympics, Marie-Rose Bruno, director of technology and information systems for the Games, had anticipated “eight to 10 times more” cyberattacks than those experienced during the Tokyo Games.
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