"There are so many contingency plans." Eurovision is ready to take on pro-Russian hackers who might be tempted to sabotage the public vote this Saturday night. The risk of a cyberattack is the "main concern" of broadcasters running the competition, a BBC executive said.
Deprived of speech. While he wanted to speak on video on the occasion of the final of Eurovision this Saturday, Volodymyr Zelensky saw his request refused by the organization.
The final still plans to pay tribute to Ukraine.https://t.co/QtTW4iGa5z
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Experts from the National Cyber Security Centre have been mobilized to help thwart any attempt by pro-Russian hackers. "I don't want to say we're immune to attacks, but we've done everything we can to make sure the event is as safe as possible, so people don't have to worry," BBC programme director Kate Phillips said, referring to a "very large number of contingency plans".
Hacking attempts in 2022
Security strengthened with the war in Ukraine, and the country's victory last year. "Cyberattacks are the main source of concern as they are becoming more frequent. We are very aware that we are exposed to a cyberattack, but I think everything we have done mitigates this risk, "tried to reassure Kate Phillips.
"The threat must be taken into account because an attack would have a visible impact for millions of viewers and would attack a European symbol," said François Deruty, director of operations at the cybersecurity company Sekoia.io. "But it is technically easier to deface the BBC site or to make denial of service attacks to make it accessible than to attack the broadcast of the program which had to be solidly secured," he said.
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Last year, Italian police foiled several pro-Russian hacks, which tried to disrupt the performances of Kalush Orchestra, the Ukrainian band that won the contest. For the BBC programme director, this is not an unthinkable scenario: "If there is an incident, there is an incident, but I think that if it happened, it was because we could not do anything about it. "