Security experts have warned that hacks on broadcasters which have brought down their Euro 2024 coverage are likely to be Russian attempts to interfere with the tournament.
Russia was barred from competing at the European Championships in Germany and much of international sport after the country’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Polish TV network TVP lost transmission of their Euro 2024 matches with the Netherlands and Austria after DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks flooded their bandwidth.
“We apologise for technical problems related to the broadcast of the Poland-Austria match on the Internet,” TVP said in a post on X.
Poland’s state authorities have pointed the finger at Russia, accusing it of engaging in a “hybrid war” of hacks, and security experts agree the attacks fit their modus operandi.
Russia hacking?
Michael Smith, CTO at security firm Vercara, told City A.M.: “The majority of these attacks are conducted by Russian hacktivists and their affiliated groups, primarily in response to any activity that the Russian government opposes, particularly support for Ukraine.
“This is an ecosystem of groups that emerge, launch attacks, and then dissolve in six months, only to re-form under different names. Their objective is to target Europe and its allies in an effort to influence policies to be more favourable to Russian interests.”
It comes after Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Centre this month said Russia was trying to disrupt the Paris 2024 Olympics through “malign disinformation campaigns against France, French President Emmanuel Macron, the International Olympic Committee and this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.”
Added Smith: “Large sporting events are frequently targeted by DDoS attacks. These events are chosen due to their popularity and high-profile nature. A successful DDoS attack on a live event provides attackers with free publicity, remote intimidation, and disruption of daily lives.
“They’re also harder to protect because of the volume of viewers and that you go from zero viewers to millions in the course of three hours. This implies that most protections cannot be adjusted in advance, necessitating careful adjustments during the event.”