The organisers of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics confirmed the Games were at the receiving end of a cyber attack during the opening ceremony on Friday, February 9. However, the organisers refused to reveal the source.
According to reports, the Games’ systems, which included internet and television services, were affected by the hacks a couple of days back. The organisers further confirmed no critical part of their operations got compromised.
“Maintaining secure operations is our purpose,“We are not going to comment on the issue. It is one we are dealing with. We are making sure our systems are secure and they are secure,” stated the spokesman of International Olympic Committee (IOC), Mark Adams.
When asked if the organisers were aware of the mastermind behind the attack, Adams refused to disclose any information regarding the matter.
“I certainly don’t know. But best international practice says that you don’t talk about an attack,” replied Adams as quoted as saying by Reuters.
Here’s the post:
Pyeongchang Winter Olympics organizers confirm the Games fell victim to a cyber attack during Friday’s opening ceremony, but refuse to reveal source https://t.co/ijngCvCntq @karolosgrohmann #PyeongChang2018 | More from the Winter Olympics: https://t.co/jrHXy4K9O1 pic.twitter.com/bRVFzH8MU0
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 11, 2018
The event is held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, which is about 50 miles away from North Korea, a country which is still in dispute with the South Koreans since the 1950-53 war. The war ended in a truce as opposed to a peace treaty.
The two country recently met at the border to discuss on the Winter Olympics amongst other agendas, a month back. Teams from the two countries marched with each other for the first time since 2006.
It is understood that the South Koreans have been using Pyeongchang Games to break grounds with their Northern counterparts who have been intending to lock horns with the United States by trading nuclear threats.
“All issues were resolved and recovered yesterday morning. We know the cause of the problem but that kind of issues occurs frequently during the Games. We decided with the IOC we are not going to reveal the source (of the attack)” quoted Sung Baik-you, Spokesman of Pyeongchang Organizing committee.