Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Athletes, Beware the Sochi Spy Games

The telecommunications, e-mail and social network presence of athletes and others attending the Olympics will be under intense scrutiny before, during and after the events. These communications will be exploited for competitive advantage, political-economic intelligence, hints of sedition, identity theft and manufacturing future access...

Obfuscation idea.
Athletes can expect to have been profiled from the moment they are named to a team... There may be attempts to entrap or break into a circle of trusted friends or groups. Athlete and their electronics will have already been exposed... Simply visiting Sochi-related websites may be enough to infect a computer with spyware.
During the Games, it is reasonable to assume that all phone calls, e-mail, texts, web browsing, online banking and access to voice mail will be intercepted and exploited. Athletes who hope to take home medals may be taking home something else on their laptop instead...


Strategy discussed in team dressing rooms or over the airwaves will be subject to eavesdropping, whereas team radio communications are also vulnerable to electronic warfare tactics: deception, spoofing, interference or jamming at critical moments during play...

Consider that Russian security services share a cozy relationship with organized crime, who stand to benefit from information collected from the state espionage infrastructure. Consequently, banking and identification information are at also at risk. (more)