Russia and Iran rogue actors will target the Fifa World Cup as part of an ongoing anti-US position, according to global threat intelligence experts.

This year’s World Cup – taking place across the United States, Canada and Mexico – is likely to be subject to a number of acts of cyber terrorism, while the use of drones could fuel domestic, physical terrorism. 

But security experts have told City AM that rogue actors from both Iran and Russia are likely to increase the number of cyber attacks they’re carrying out.

“Discussing the world’s biggest game’s attack surface” report by Unit 42, part of the cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks, stated that Russia-linked hack accounts have targeted NATO members and events such as the Ukraine Peace Summit and Paris and Milan Olympic Games. Two of the three World Cup hosts are members of NATO.

Iranian hackers have reportedly been targeting “small municipal authorities” which could impact “water, wastewater and energy infrastructure” across host cities.

Hack threat at World Cup

Unit 42’s Justin Moore told City AM that “geopolitical tensions mean we are monitoring active interest from state-backed and proxy threat actors”, adding that, “Russia may have been banned from competition, but it’s been running cyber interference in global sport since long before Ukraine”.

“Similarly,” Moore added, “from destructive attacks to disinformation, Iran is running a full campaign, and the World Cup could be a target given the highly volatile geopolitical climate.”

It is another concern for a World Cup that begins next month but has seen controversy over immigration, visas, tickets, transport and geopolitical stances.

Iran will be competing in the World Cup despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with their matches slated for the West Coast of the United States.

Russia is banned from the tournament but President Trump did tout their return earlier on in the World Cup cycle amid Ukraine-related peace talks in Alaska.

Added Moore: “Cybercriminals get excited by the mass exploitation of worldwide sporting events because they’re great at exploiting human psychology for financial gain.

“While hacktivists may attempt disruptive DDoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service) attacks to garner headlines, the overwhelming volume of cyber activity we anticipate will actually come from everyday, financially motivated cybercriminals deploying ransomware and ticketing scams.

“The risk isn’t about an inevitable disruption, but rather a reminder of why early, coordinated digital readiness across the entire host-city ecosystem is so critical.”