Rafael Nadal, Mo Farah, Justin Rose in Fancy Bears hack

Omnisports

September 19, 2016 1:46 AM

Rafael Nadal, Mo Farah and Justin Rose are among the latest Olympians to be accused of doping by a Russian cyber espionage group.

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Rafael Nadal, Mo Farah and Justin Rose are among the latest Olympians whose confidential medical records were leaked by a Russian cyber espionage group on Monday.

The World Anti-Doping Agency last week revealed it has been hacked by the group known as Fancy Bears, who obtained illegal access to the organisation's database.

Details of athletes granted therapeutic use exemptions, enabling competitors to use medications for legitimate reasons, have been listed by the hackers on the group's website.

Fourteen-time grand slam champion Nadal, Farah, who defended his 5000m and 10,000m titles on the track in Rio last month, and Olympic golf champion Rose are three of the high profile athletes to have had medical data disclosed online.

Rower Helen Glover, a two-time Olympic champion, 800m silver medal winner Francine Niyonsaba, swimmers Laszlo Cseh and Connor Jaeger, as well as fencing gold medal winner Gauthier Grumier are also among the latest batch of 26 athletes to have been targeted by the hackers.

Serena and Venus Williams were listed in the first leak of confidential records along with gymnastics sensation Simone Biles.

There is no evidence of any wrongdoing by the athletes involved.

WADA released a statement with said: "WADA is taking this situation concerning athlete privacy very seriously. The incident response team that we have assembled is actively working with law enforcement agencies in Canada and elsewhere, and acting on the intelligence obtained through our investigations to prevent any further intrusions.

"We are also consulting with leading cyber security experts to ensure that no further information is accessed from the broader ADAMS.

"The group obtained access to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games account through spear phishing of ADAMS users' email accounts through which hackers obtained ADAMS passwords. We still have no reason to believe that they have accessed the broader ADAMS system.

"The Agency is in contact with the relevant NADOs (National Anti-Doping Organisations) and IFs (International Federations) whose athletes are impacted by this latest data release so that they can provide them with the necessary support."

Omnisports

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