Information security professionals are preparing for various attacks at this year's FIFA World Cup, which has already begun.
This year's World Cup is being hosted in Russia, home to millions of fans and hackers. As we reported in an article last week, open Wi-Fi in some Russian cities is quite vulnerable. Security experts believe that there will be some kind of cyberattack related to the tournament, but not necessarily because of the Wi-Fi hotspot problem.
The survey, conducted by Lastline at Infosecurity Europe 2018, found that 72% of security professionals believe an attack is likely, given that high-profile international events are almost always a target for hackers.
Of these, 70% expect malicious users to focus on network infrastructure that can be DDoSed in an attempt to disrupt social media sites. Less than half (44%) believe they will focus on phishing email attacks and 47% mention campaigns targeting smartphones (Android, iOS, Windows, etc.).
The world has seen DDoS attacks on global sporting events, most notably the Winter Olympics in South Korea. Many, however, claim that such phenomena will occur more often from now on. “It is not surprising that further attacks have been predicted for the FIFA World Cup, which begins today,” said Andrew Lloyd, president of Corero Network Security. “Given the current geopolitical situation, the soccer World Cup presents an opportunity for attacks of national importance.”
