Major sporting events like the World Cup, Super Bowl, and Wimbledon attract millions, even billions, of viewers. Argentina’s shootout win over France in the final game of the Qatar 2022 World Cup reached a global audience of 1.5 billion viewers. And the Olympics, starting later this month in Paris, is the biggest of them all—with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics having attracted a worldwide audience of over 3 billion viewers.
These events are also prime opportunities for cybercriminals. Over the past decade, the number of cyberattacks targeting major events has surged, increasing from 212 million documented attacks at the London 2012 Games to a staggering 4.4 billion at the Tokyo 2020 Games. These attacks often have direct financial motives, such as scams, digital fraud, or the acquisition of valuable data from attendees, viewers, and sponsors.
Read more…
Source: Fortinet
Related:
- SMS scammers use toll fees as a lure
August 27, 2024
In April 2024, the FBI warned about a new type of smishing scam. Smishing is the term we use for phishing attacks sent via text message. This particular smishing scam tries to trick users into clicking a link by telling them they owe a “small amount” in toll fees. The scammers send a text claiming that ...
- Cyber attacks on law firms jumped by 77% over the past year
August 27, 2024
The number of successful cyber attacks against UK law firms rose by 77% in the past year to 954, up from 538 the year before, according to a new study of the threat. Chartered accountants Lubbock Fine said that the wave is driven by criminals seeing law firms as prime targets for ransomware attacks or blackmail. This ...
- Ransomware attacks on schools threaten student data nationwide
August 26, 2024
Imagine a criminal gaining unrestricted access to your child’s most private information — medical records, Social Security numbers and even details about their daily bus ride to school. This alarming scenario is becoming a reality for a growing number of families as sophisticated cybercriminals increasingly target schools across the United States, holding their computer systems ...
- Laybuy collapsed after unreported cyber attack
August 26, 2024
A Klarna rival collapsed into bankruptcy after millions of pounds was stolen in a cyber attack. The collapse of Laybuy, a buy now, pay later (BNPL) start-up, followed a previously unreported hacking between December and February that left the business on the brink. Laybuy, which had more than 750,000 customers and was headquartered in New Zealand, filed ...
- Port of Seattle says it was hit with possible cyberattack; outage affects airport, phone systems
August 25, 2024
The Port of Seattle said Saturday it was hit with a “possible cyberattack” that impacted Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, phone systems, and websites. The outage was first reported Saturday morning just after 9 a.m. PT, described as an “internet and web systems outage.” A few hours later, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport posted on X and said the Port ...
- Telegram messaging app CEO Pavel Durov arrested in France
August 25, 2024
Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, has been arrested at Bourget airport outside Paris for alleged offences related to his messaging app, French media reports. Local sources said on Sunday that Durov, 39, had been travelling on his private jet from Azerbaijan and that a French arrest warrant targeted him as ...