A group calling itself Fancy Bears and claiming to be part of the Anonymous hacker collective has leaked files stolen from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
In a statement on its website, WADA admitted to the hack and said the attacks originated out of Russia.
The group’s name is not a coincidence
Earlier in August, a group using the name Anonymous Poland also breached WADA servers, and attempted to hack the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS, also CAS).
US security firm ThreatConnect attributed these attacks to a cyber-espionage group linked to Russia’s military intelligence service GRU, which is identified in security reports as Fancy Bear, but also Sofacy, APT28, Sednit, Pawn Storm, or Strontium.
Whoever decided to leak the WADA files stolen in this most recent attack has a sense of humor and deep knowledge of the cyber-espionage landscape.
Leaked files contain Therapeutic Use Exemptions forms
Softpedia has downloaded and analyzed the files, which are a collection of PDFs and PNG files.
The files contain documents that allow athletes to use banned substances for therapeutic use. The group leaked Therapeutic Use Exemptions forms for four US female athletes: gymnast Simone Biles, basketball player Elena Delle Donne, and tennis players Venus and Serena Williams.
The documents reveal that Biles had been allowed to take stimulants called methylphenidate and amphetamines (Focalin – dextroamphetamine). Donne had also been allowed to take p-hydroxy-amfetamine.
The Williams sisters also received exemptions for hydromorphene, oxycodone, prednisone, prednisolone and methylprednisolone (Serena); as well as triamcinolone, prednisone, and formoterol (Venus).
Therapeutic Use Exemptions are common in today’s sporting environment, where athletes seek permissions in advance to cure medical ailments that can’t be treated without the usage of banned substances. Athletes from all countries seek such exemptions, not just from the US.
Information leaked from a WADA ADAMS account
WADA suspects that Fancy Bears used a spear-phishing email that allowed the group to gain access to a temporary ADAMS account created specifically for the recently concluded Rio 2016 Olympics.
ADAMS stands for Anti-Doping Administration and Management System and is a WADA-managed database that holds information on athletes’ drug tests.
Also in August, Yuliya Stepanova, the Russian athlete that unmasked the state-sponsored doping program run by Russian authorities, had her ADAMS account compromised as well.
More leaks to come
In a message posted on its website, the Fancy Bears group seems to have an issue with US athletes, saying “The U.S. team played well but not fair.”
The group promised more leaks that will expose the US team. You can read their statements below. We’ve also attached all leaked files in this article’s image gallery.
