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Significant cyber incident

Paris 2024 Olympic Games cyber events

ANSSI, France's national cyber agency, received 548 cyber security events affecting entities linked to the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games between 8 May and 8 September 2024.

In short

ANSSI, France's national cyber agency, received 548 cyber security events affecting entities linked to the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games between 8 May and 8 September 2024. Of these, 465 were low-impact reports and 83 were confirmed incidents. Nearly half were service outages, and a quarter of all events were DDoS attacks. ANSSI said no event affected the opening or closing ceremonies or the competitions.

Last updated October 2026

What happened

France hosted the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in summer 2024. ANSSI led the cyber security work. It identified an ecosystem of nearly 500 entities, ran about a hundred audits and became the single entry point for cyber reports.

Between 8 May and 8 September 2024, 548 cyber security events affecting entities linked to the Games were reported to ANSSI. It counted 465 reports, which are low-impact events, and 83 incidents, where a malicious actor acted successfully on a victim’s system. Nearly half were unavailability events, and a quarter of all events were DDoS attacks.

ANSSI said the most targeted sectors were government entities, sport, entertainment and telecommunications. It said no event affected the ceremonies or the running of the events and that impacts were broadly low. Separately, in April 2025 the foreign ministry said the APT28 group was used against a sport organization involved in the Games.

Timeline

  1. 2023

    ANSSI holds several crisis exercises and a sector awareness plan starts for the Games ecosystem.

  2. 8 May 2024

    The period covered by ANSSI's count of Games-related cyber events begins.

  3. 8 September 2024

    The period covered by ANSSI's count ends.

  4. 10 September 2024

    ANSSI publishes its cyber review of the Games.

  5. 11 March 2026

    ANSSI's 2025 threat overview says report peaks during the Games between May and August 2024 may explain a fall in events handled in 2025.

How the attack worked

What the sources describe

ANSSI’s review gives counts and categories, not a technical attack chain. Nearly half of the events were unavailability, and a quarter of all events came from DDoS attacks. The rest were compromise attempts and compromises, data disclosures and vulnerability reports.

How the defense worked

Before the Games ANSSI ran about a hundred audits and gave technical help to most audited entities. Some very critical entities got managed EDR and industrial probes. During the Games every event was reported to ANSSI as the single entry point, with a liaison officer working beside the Paris 2024 cyber teams. Information was shared with international partners, including the EU crisis network EU-CyCLONe.

The APT28 link

The foreign ministry said on 29 April 2025 that APT28 was used to target or compromise a dozen French entities, including a sport organization involved in the 2024 Games. The sources opened do not tie that case to a specific Games event.

The sources opened give no MITRE ATT&CK technique numbers for the Games events, so none are listed.

Impact

Counts: 548 events, of which 465 reports and 83 incidents, between 8 May and 8 September 2024 (ANSSI, 10 September 2024).
Types: nearly half were unavailability and a quarter were DDoS attacks. The rest were compromise attempts and compromises, data disclosures and vulnerability reports.
Sectors: government entities, sport, entertainment (competition sites and Paris 2024) and telecommunications.
Effect: no event affected the opening and closing ceremonies or the competitions, and impacts were broadly low (ANSSI). ANSSI and partners helped several victims resolve incidents.
Later: ANSSI's 2025 overview says peaks of reports during the Games may explain the 18 percent fall in events handled in 2025.

Government and regulator response

  • 2023: ANSSI ran crisis exercises and an awareness plan, and offered exercise kits that about a hundred entities used.
  • Before the Games: about a hundred audits, technical support for most audited entities, control audits for dozens of entities and managed detection for a few very critical ones.
  • 8 May to 8 September 2024: ANSSI acted as single entry point for reports, with a national crisis command center and a liaison officer with Paris 2024, and shared information with international partners.
  • 10 September 2024: ANSSI published its review and said the cyber assessment was one of limited incidents with no impact on the Games.

Lessons

  1. Prepare long before the event

    ANSSI ran audits, exercises and awareness work from 2023, a year before the Games.

  2. One place to report

    ANSSI was the single entry point for cyber reports, which gave a single view of the situation.

  3. Classify events

    ANSSI split events into low-impact reports and confirmed incidents. Use clear definitions so counts are comparable.

  4. Availability attacks are common

    Nearly half the events were outages and a quarter of all events were DDoS. Plan for traffic floods on public sites.

  5. Pressure continues after the event

    The 2025 overview says pressure linked to the event had not eased after 2024.

  6. Event partners are targets

    The foreign ministry named a sport organization involved in the Games among victims of APT28.

What to check in your own organization

  1. DDoS readiness

    Test how your public sites handle a large traffic flood and who to call at your provider.

  2. Single reporting route

    Agree one internal and one external route for reporting cyber events during big events.

  3. Event partner list

    List partners, ticketing and media suppliers that touch your event and check their security.

  4. Detection on critical systems

    Put managed detection on the most critical systems before the event.

  5. Exercises

    Run a crisis exercise at least months before the event with the people who would decide.

  6. Event scam watch

    Monitor for fake ticket, merchandise and sponsor sites that copy your brand.

Questions

How many cyber events were linked to the Paris 2024 Games?

ANSSI counted 548 between 8 May and 8 September 2024: 465 low-impact reports and 83 confirmed incidents.

What kinds of attack were they?

Nearly half were unavailability events and a quarter of all events were DDoS attacks. The rest were compromise attempts, compromises, data disclosures and vulnerability reports.

Did anything stop the Games?

ANSSI said no event affected the opening or closing ceremonies or the competitions.

Who was behind the attacks?

No attribution of the whole set appears in the sources opened. The foreign ministry separately said APT28 was used against a sport organization involved in the Games.

Which sectors were hit most?

Government entities, sport, entertainment (competition sites and Paris 2024) and telecommunications, per ANSSI.

Sources

  1. Bilan cyber des Jeux Olympiques et Paralympiques de Paris 2024 ANSSI
  2. Russia - Attribution of cyber attacks on France to the Russian military intelligence service (APT28) Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France
  3. Panorama de la cybermenace 2025 : La France toujours sous la pression des cyber attaquants ANSSI
  4. Panorama de la cybermenace 2025 ANSSI
  5. Cyber Threat Overview 2024 CERT-FR, ANSSI
  6. ANSSI publishes its 2024 annual review ANSSI

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