Anonymous vs. World Cup: How Much Damage Has the Hacker Group Done So Far?
World famous hacker group Anonymous made a promise earlier this year: it would disrupt the World Cup through #OpHackingCup. We're now almost one week into the tournament. Let's take a look at how much damage Anonymous has wrought.
The last major flurry of attacks by Anonymous occurred last Wednesday, one day before the tournament started. Anonymous was able to take down over 60 websites, including the official World Cup site, using distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. Attacks were also directed at public figures who supported the games, including Caetano Veloso and Mariana Aydar. Since then, however, the group has been relatively quiet, but don't expect that to last.
"We had a busy last few days and there is more still to come," an Anonymous hacker by the name of Che Commodore told Reuters last Wednesday."Companies and institutions that work with a government that denies the basic rights of its people in order to promote a private, exclusive and corrupt sports event will be targeted."
Anonymous revealed earlier this year that it would be targeting the World Cup and its affiliates during the upcoming summer games.
"We have already conducted late-night tests to see which of the sites are more vulnerable," Che Commodore told Reuters. "We have a plan of attack."
"This time we are targeting the sponsors of the World Cup."
The group seems to have initially delivered on its promise, and there's no telling which targets are next as the games are scheduled to continue until July 13.
Why add chaos to one of the world's favorite events? Anonymous Brazil simply isn't happy with the lavish spending on the games. Frequent reports of grandiose stadiums alongside slums highlight what became a criticized effort by Brazil to prove to the world it could handle the World Cup. Before its attacks on June 11, Anonymous managed to hack into Brazil's Foreign Ministry and leak emails.
It's not just big Brazilian companies and government agencies that need to be on the lookout for cyber criminals during the World Cup — so does anybody attending the games. Major events like the World Cup are hotbeds for cyber crime, where hackers are constantly on the lookout for unfamiliar tourists to reveal a little too much information in the wrong place.
"Fraud events follow specific sporting events, and ATM and point-of-sale skimming of credit card accounts are rife for fraud, especially at high-density events in smaller and mid-sized cities," Seth Ruden, senior fraud consultant for ACI, told Computer World. "There's a significant chance of an organized fraud effort by organized crime at the World Cup."
For more stories like this, follow us on Twitter!
Subscribe to Latin Post!
Sign up for our free newsletter for the Latest coverage!