Tokyo Olympic Committee Says No Substantial Cyber Influences Occurred in Recent Years

TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2020) The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games has not registered any cyber influences that could potentially have any substantial effect on its work, the committee said in light of the recent US hacking accusations against Russia.

On Monday, the US Justice Department said that six Russian nationals were allegedly engaged in a hacking operation that targeted the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, among other notable events that occurred abroad, through malicious software, including NotPetya. Apart from that, the UK Foreign Office claimed that Russia's GRU also allegedly planned a hacking operation targeting the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games before they were postponed.

"The digital platforms belonging to the Organising Committee regularly come under attacks of various scale, but in the past years there has been no damage that could have a substantial effect on its work," the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games said on Tuesday, as quoted by NHK.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said at a press conference on Tuesday that the government was cooperating with other countries on cyber issues relating to the Olympics.

He did not comment on any of the US or UK allegations in specific, but did say that cyber attacks undermine the foundations of democracy.

A source at the Russian Foreign Ministry told Sputnik on Monday that the most recent US and UK cyber accusations are groundless, aim to create anti-Russian sentiments, and are addressed to the internal audience within the context of the presidential election in the United States.

A representative of the Russian Embassy in Washington told Sputnik on Monday that the US allegations have nothing to do with reality as Russia has never had any intention of engaging in destabilizing operations around the world.

The Russian embassy in Canada has also dismissed all western allegations concerning Russia's alleged cyber activity, calling them "absurd and baseless."

The Tokyo Olympic Games were scheduled to take place this summer but were postponed until 2021 amid the coronavirus pandemic.