Pyeongchang Olympics survive hacking scare as Russians distance themselves from the incident

[Photo: Courtesy]

The Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang survived a hacking scare on the eve of its opening on Friday, which its organizers have declined to reveal its perpetrators.

The organizers revealed that the Gaming System which entails the television services and the internet were all affected on the day of the opening ceremony. However the International Olympics Committee has moved ahead to alleviate fears of possible damage.

According to a media report by First Post, an Indian Press, the IOC acknowledged that the incident took place but was adamant to reveal the identity of the source of the scare.

 “We are not going to comment on the issue. It is one we are dealing with. We are making sure our systems are secure and they are secure,” said IOC Spokesman Mark Adams.

Adams said they could not reveal the perpetrators of the incident due to the ethical principles that bind them, adding that their role as IOC is to ensure maximum security.

But for the Pyeongchnag spokesman of the organizing committee Sung Baik, the situation was resolved as soon as the problem was detected.

He said: “We know the cause of the problem but that kind of issues occurs frequently during the Games. We decided with the IOC we are not going to reveal the source.”

Despite marching as one team in the opening of the Pyeongchang Olympics, South Korea and North Korea have been locked in wars that date back to 1950 to 1953.

North Korea has been synonymous with nuclear plan which has since rubbed America and Europe the wrong way. South Korea on the other hand has been using the Pyeongchang games to close the gap with her neighbor and bring back normalcy.

Meanwhile, Russia has moved forward to fire a warning and a parting shot seeking to exonerate Russians from being dragged into the hacking incident.

This is after rumours came out linking Russians to the incident as a form of retaliation for being locked out of the tournament due to doping.

A statement from the Russian foreign affairs ministry released on Friday reads in part:

“We know that Western media are planning pseudo-investigations on the theme of ‘Russian fingerprints’ in hacking attacks on information resources related to the hosting of the Winter Olympic Games in the Republic of Korea.”

This may have been fueled by an alarm that was raised by cyber security researchers. The researchers put Russians on the spot for plotting retaliation on the anti-doping body for locking them out.