Officials Investigating Possible Cyberattack At Pyeongchang Winter Olympics

by Eric Lieberman

Official organizers for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics are investigating an interference to certain virtual systems in what could have been a cyberattack, Reuters reported Saturday.

Local media in South Korea initially reported that the technical disruptions were caused by some sort of cyberattack, but Olympic Games spokesman Sung Baik-you said there is no such evidence of such activity, at least not yet.

“There were some issues that affected some of our non-critical systems last night for a few hours,” said Sung, according to Reuters, before adding that authorities are working to figure out what exactly happened.

“Experts are watching to ensure and maintain any systems at expected service levels. We are currently investigating the cause of the issue. At this time we cannot confirm (a cyberattack),” he said.

People privy to the operations of the official opening ceremony, which was broadcasted Friday night in America, reportedly worried that a failure to launch drones could have been part of the for now-ambiguous system difficulties. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, were a big part of the showmanship of the ceremony, but most of the incredible, illuminative spectacles provided by the drones were only available for television viewers, not the in-stadium attendees like heads of state and athletes (e.g augmented reality).

But cyberattacks and other forms of assault were a big point of fearful contention prior to the games in South Korea as tensions with long-time, adjacent adversary North Korea and much of the diplomatic world have become even more strained.

The two neighboring rival countries displayed an act of solidarity by having some participants from each country honored together during the opening ceremony, and combining the respective women’s hockey teams into a singular, unified one.

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