Microsoft reveals major Russian cyber threats that appeared to target the Paris Olympics
Multiple Russian state-sponsored threat actors are actively conducting disinformation campaigns about the Summer Olympics taking place this summer in Paris, France. The aim of the campaigns is apparently to scare people and make them avoid the event altogether.
The Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) recently released a new report outlining at least two separate groups of threat actors, Storm-1679 and Storm-1099, working simultaneously and for the same purpose.
Readers may remember the latter from earlier reports, when Storm-1099 was attributed to a disinformation campaign that Ukraine was selling donated weapons to Hamas to commit atrocities in Israel.
“Olympics have fallen”
For these campaigns, the groups do a number of things, including spoofing popular news channels in France and elsewhere in Europe, as well as impersonating actors and celebrities.
In fact, Microsoft says the masters of disinformation have created a fake Netflix documentary called “Olympics Has Fallen,” featuring the streaming service’s logo and narrated by an AI-generated Tom Cruise voice.
“Further analysis confirmed that the fake documentary used AI-generated audio resembling Cruise’s voice to imply his participation, spoofed Netflix’s iconic introduction scene and corporate branding, and promoted fake five-star reviews from reputable media outlets such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the BBC, all amid slick computer-generated special effects,” the report said.
Russian state-sponsored hackers have a history of meddling in both national and global events, with the aim of disrupting and spreading disinformation. The US presidential election, the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, French President Macron’s presidential campaign, are just some of the events that Microsoft claims Russian hackers interfered with.