Russia’s Fancy Bear hackers conduct “significant cyberattacks” on anti-doping agencies

Enlarge (credit: Alan Vernon)

Fancy Bear, the Russian-sponsored hacker group, recently conducted "significant cyberattacks" on 16 national and international sports and anti-doping organizations, and at least some of the offensives were successful, Microsoft said on Monday.

The attacks began on September 16, just days ahead of news reports that the World Anti-Doping Agency, often known as WADA, had opened proceedings against Russian athletes after finding inconsistencies in lab data. Those proceedings, which involve the manipulation of thousands of anti-doping tests, could lead to the ouster of the Russian athletes.

Olympics obsession

The attacks are only the latest brazen steps the group has taken to shield against or retaliate for allegations of cheating by Russian Olympic athletes. In 2016, WADA blamed Fancy Bear for a hack that stole confidential medical data. The hackers then published the data, which included the drug regimens of Simon Biles, Serena and Venus Williams, and other athletes, in an attempt to paint them as flouters of WADA regulations. Two years later, hackers WADA identified as Fancy Bear published private emails taken from the International Olympic Committee. The action came after Russia was banned from the Winter Olympics.

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