In the period leading up to and throughout the Olympic Games, France’s cybersecurity agency was on high alert to counter potential cyberattacks that could disrupt the organizing committee, ticketing, or transportation systems.

Between July 26 and August 11, Anssi, the government’s cybersecurity agency, reported 119 instances of minor security events and 22 incidents where malicious actors managed to infiltrate victims’ information systems.

These cyberattacks primarily targeted government organizations, as well as infrastructure related to sports, transportation, and telecommunications.

According to Anssi, around one-third of these incidents resulted in downtime, with half being caused by denial-of-service attacks aimed at overwhelming servers. Other incidents involved attempts or successful breaches of systems, along with data leaks.

Anssi emphasized that the cyber incidents reported during this period generally had a low impact.

In early August, the Grand Palais, a key venue for Olympic events in Paris, along with approximately 40 other museums across France, fell victim to a ransomware attack. However, Anssi assured that this attack did not compromise any information systems related to the Olympic Games.

Ransomware takes advantage of security vulnerabilities to encrypt and lock computer systems, demanding a ransom to restore access.

During the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, which were delayed due to the pandemic, organizers recorded 450 million cyber operations, double the number observed during the 2012 London Olympics.

Ahead of the Paris Olympics, Marie-Rose Bruno, the Director of Technology and Information Systems for the Games, had predicted a significant increase in cyberattacks, anticipating “eight to ten times more” than those experienced in Tokyo.