Eurovision chiefs hope for a little peace from Russian hackers
Organisers and the British government have called in experts from the National Cyber Security Centre.
Pro-Russian hackers could force this week’s Eurovision broadcasts from Liverpool off air and disrupt the song contest’s public vote, government ministers fear.
Concerns that the competition could become a digital front in the Ukraine war have led its organisers and the British government to call in experts from the National Cyber Security Centre, The Times understands.
This year’s contest is being held on Merseyside on behalf of Ukraine, which won the public vote last year. A senior Whitehall official said: “The biggest worry is that the voting system is hacked like it was last year.”
NCSC experts are working with the Home Office and Department for Science to reinforce cyber defences before next week’s competition. Russia has been banned from entering.
Italian police thwarted attacks by pro-Russian hackers during last year’s competition in Turin. The hackers targeted performances by the Kalush Orchestra, the Ukrainian act that won the contest, singing about the devastation caused by the Russian invasion.
Israel’s hosting of the contest in 2019 was marred by a hack that replaced its national broadcaster’s online stream of the event with images of explosions. The government blamed Hamas.
Killnet, a hacker collective believed to be supportive of the Putin regime, targeted the semi-final and final of last year’s Eurovision. Several Italian government ministries also were targeted in the week of the contest.
The hackers ultimately were unsuccessful in their aim of preventing audiences from watching the contest or voting via telephone, text or app, but ministers fear a similar attempt to disrupt this year’s contest is inevitable.
It is not known whether British security agencies are acting on specific intelligence. The Kremlin has always denied that it engages in cyber warfare against the West.
“While it’s possible to be confident that concertgoers will be safe, the cyber side is far more unpredictable,” a security source said.
The government and local authorities in Liverpool have spent €14m ($23m) on hosting the contest. A source familiar with efforts to protect Eurovision said: “The NCSC routinely helps out with these big events.”
Neither the Home Office nor the Department for Science responded to a request for comment.
The Times
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