The hackers – who also released the medical records of three other sportswomen, including Serena and Venus Williams and WNBA star Elena Delle Donne – sourced the files from the World Anti-Doping Agency’s database.
Advertisement
USA Gymnastics said in a statement “The Rio Olympics quadruple gold medallist had obtained the necessary permission to take prescription medicine on the Wada banned drugs list”.
Simone Biles has responded to questions about her health after a hack of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)’s athlete database on September 13, revealed that she uses Methylphenidate, also known as Ritalin, a stimulant drug commonly prescribed to those with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) president Craig Reedie can understand why athletes who had confidential medical data hacked would be “irritated” and knows the breach “casts doubt on the anti-doping system”.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has also condemned the cyber-attack “clearly meant to sully the reputation of clean athletes”.
She said in a statement posted on Twitter by WTA Insider: ” I have followed the rules established under the Tennis Anti-Doping Program in applying for, and being granted, “therapeutic use exemptions”.
After receiving information that these attacks originated in Russia, WADA Director General Olivier Niggli said that such actions “are greatly compromising the effort by the global anti-doping community to re-establish trust in Russia”.
The new leak from cyber criminal group known as “Tsar Team” and “Fancy Bear” affects 25 athletes, including 10 from the U.S., WADA said late Wednesday. Tuesday, WADA confirmed the hack and authorities have traced the hack to Russian Federation.
Fancy Bear has unveiled detailed results including “abnormal tests” (AAF) of these athletes, who, however, explained by the presence of therapeutic use authorization (AUT) for the substances in question. “And it’s rather unhelpful at the moment”, added Reedie in reference to the ongoing efforts to bring Russian Federation into line after the damning WADA-commissioned independent report that revealed state sponsored doping dating back to the 2013 World Athletics Championships and the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko later said the hacking had nothing to do with the country, adding: “We are also concerned because they have the same data for Russian athletes and we can also be a victim”. But of course, he’s got a pretty big bone to pick with WADA, seeing as how they banned almost a third of Russia’s athletes after uncovering a massive state-sponsored doping program.
Advertisement
The Russian government has denied any involvement in the WADA attack, BBC reported. One thing we know to be true is that until iron clad measures are put into place, cybersecurity will continue to be an easily exploited weakness in national security.
