Written by Josh Meyers at NBCNews
Hackers linked to the Russian government have posted online what they say are the Olympic drug-testing files of four U.S. athletes, including Serena Williams and gymnastics champion Simone Biles.
The World Anti-Doping Agency confirmed Tuesday that a cyber-espionage group known as Fancy Bear illegally hacked its database of Olympic athletes for the 2016 Rio games, but had no comment on whether the files posted were authentic. NBC News has not confirmed that the files are authentic or, if authentic, are unaltered.
NBC News reported details of the suspected hack of WADA files Aug. 27, saying it was part of the same covert influence campaign by the Putin regime to target numerous U.S. government, political organizations and other perceived enemies and potentially disrupt the November election. U.S. officials have linked Fancy Bear to GRU, the Russian military intelligence agency.
Russian athletes were banned from the Rio Olympics — and Paralympics — after WADA’s recommendation to ban them due to evidence of widespread doping.
In a detailed statement Tuesday, WADA confirmed a broad cyber-penetration of its Anti-doping Administration and Management System, known as the ADAMS database. It also said law enforcement authorities had traced the breach to hackers “originating out of Russia” known as Tsar Team (APT28), “also known as Fancy Bear,” and that they had illegally gained access via an International Olympic Committee (IOC)-created account.
The hackers posted statements online claiming that they were going public with information about the U.S. athletes to show the U.S. won a large number of medals at the Olympics through cheating.
A post on the website Fancybear.net said the group was “shocked with what we saw” and that a review of hacked WADA files showed “that dozens of American athletes had tested positive” for banned substances, in cases in which they had been given official approval to use them due to extenuating circumstances.
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