‘Iranian hackers’ publish personal info of Israeli Olympic athletes including those who served in IDF amid ISIS threat
ISRAELI athletes had their personal information leaked by “Iranian hackers” just a DAY before the Olympic Games.
Pictures, home addresses and even data on those who served in the Israeli army were made public amid the rising terror threats in France.
The Olympic host country has splashed a whopping £350million on their tight-knit security operations ahead of the tournament.
But that did not stop hackers from reportedly leaking photos of IDs, plane tickets, documents, and personal information on Israeli athletes’ service in the IDF.
Stolen data also included military ID numbers, usernames and passwords to online accounts as well as home addresses.
The “anti-Israel” hackers claimed that those who had served in the IDF prior to the Olympics were sent to Paris as “undercover representatives”, The Times of Israel reports.
The group, named Zeus, reportedly posted on Telegram alongside the hacked material: “The Israeli military sent representatives to the Olympic Games.
“We are revealing what the Israeli soldiers are doing at the Olympics.”
Israeli outlet YNet claims the hack could have been carried out by an Iranian group to be used for propaganda and intimidation.
Israel’s cyber directory said it was monitoring the incident.
The 88 Israeli Olympians are said to have nonstop protection from French security services, as well as Israel’s Shin Bet officials amid a spate of threats to the delegation.
On Thursday, Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz warned his French counterpart, Stéphane Séjourné, of an Iranian-backed conspiracy to harm Israeli tourists and sportsmen at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
He wrote: “There are those who seek to undermine the celebratory nature of this joyous event.
“We currently have assessments regarding the potential threat posed by Iranian terrorist proxies and other terrorist organisations.
“We are determined to see our athletes proudly represent the State of Israel and believe we can count on France to ensure their security.”
Israel had previously urged those attending the Paris Olympics to exercise extra caution amid terror threats, The Times of Israel reports.
The country’s National Security Council (NSC) believes that global jihadist and Iran-backed terror organisations “are seeking to carry out attacks on Israeli/Jewish targets around the Olympics.”
The NSC told Israelis on Sunday: “International events such as this represent a preferred target for threats and attacks from various terror groups, because of the potential for the wide media impact.”
On Wednesday, Israeli fans were attacked on a chaotic Olympics opening night during their football match against Mali.
Pro-Palestine protests were held as the Paris games’ major security operation at Israel‘s first appearance went mostly untested.
Booing echoed across the Parc des Princes during the Israeli national anthem and security guards were seen breaking up small groups of demonstrators and Israelis.
The French capital’s Olympic Games is set to become the most guarded Games ever with over 75,000 cops and soldiers, drones, helicopters and a huge increase in AI surveillance all deployed after months of growing safety concerns.
Over 43 countries are involved in ensuring the Olympics are kept secure with French officials claiming the “unprecedented” operations are at least three times larger than at London 2012.
The robust defence system will be headed up by over 45,000 police officers and a huge force of up to 18,000 soldiers.
France’s largest deployment of troops since World War Two aims to keep the 15 million visitors and 10,500 Olympic Games competitors safe.
The country also rejected 3,500 Olympics jobseekers over security risks and terrorism threats.
Some 130 of the denied applicants were on the government’s “Fiche S,” a watchlist for terrorist suspects and threats to national security.
Dozens of people with ties to radical Islamists, or the ultra-Left and ultra-Right, were also turned down, said Gérald Darmanin, France’s interior minister.
He added the government conducted hundreds of thousands of investigations to screen applicants who posed a risk to the games and to national security, The Telegraph reports.
Mr Darmanin said: “770,000 administrative investigations have been carried out to date, resulting in the exclusion of 3,570 people.”