The hacking group, known as APT28 and Fancy Bear by USA cyber-security researchers, was also blamed by WADA on Tuesday for posting medical data about U.S. athletes Simone Biles, Elena Delle Donne, and Serena and Venus Williams.
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“The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) shares WADA and the other Anti-Doping Organisations condemnations of cyber-attacks to release personal data”.
WADA has condemned the attacks and underlined the severity with which they regard them.
WADA considers the attacks are being carried out as retaliation for the agency’s investigations that exposed state-sponsored doping in Russian Federation and led to nearly the entire track and field team being banned from last month’s Olympics.
The statement read: “Fancy Bear’ [aka Tsar Team (APT28)] have leaked another batch of confidential athlete data from WADA’s Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS)”.
The ease with which such sensitive data was made available through a simple online trick suggests that WADA did not have two-factor security in place, and that staff may have be given no training about emails asking for credentials.
Harting, an avid and vociferous anti-doping campaigner, said on Twitter: “Me and the medical staff are fine with the leaked content”.
The agency’s independent McLaren report, released in July, said that Russians had swapped positive doping samples for clean ones during the 2014 Sochi Olympics, with the support of the Russian secret service.
Upon the publication of his personal details, Froome, seemingly feeling vindicated, said in a statement: “I’ve openly discussed my TUEs with the media and have no issues with the leak which only confirms my statements”. The database shows that Adams received Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) in 2009 for the use of salbutamol, salmeterol, and fluticasone propionate, all of which are listed as banned substances by WADA.
Wiggins was given exemption to take a medication for an allergy to grass pollen, while Froome is known to have previously required medication for exacerbated asthma.
The release came on the same day as Russian president Vladimir Putin denied Kremlim involvement but said the leaking of the confidential medical data from the Olympic athletes was “of interest to the global public”.
A second batch of secret data from the World Anti-Doping Agency’s database of athletes who took part in the 2016 Rio Olympics was released by the hacking group Fancy Bears; the list includes 10 “doping addicts” from the U.S. and five more from Britain. Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said through a translator during a visit to Athens earlier Wednesday.
“How can you prove that the hackers are Russian?”
Anti-doping United Kingdom stated that they are “appalled” by the leaks of personal data and stresses that “TUEs are granted based exclusively on medical need – they are not an indication of doping”.
The attack comes only a month after Yuliya Stepanova’s WADA database password was stolen and her account illegally accessed.
Richard Ings, the former Australian Anti-Doping Agency chief agrees with Dmitri on their nationality.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it “strongly condemns such methods which clearly aim at tarnishing the reputation of clean athletes”. Their chosen name, “Fancy Bears”, appears to be a tongue-in-cheek reference to a collection of Russia-linked hackers that security researchers have blamed for a recent spate of attacks and which WADA holds responsible for the current breach.
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In documents published on the Fancy Bears’ website, it lists seven certificates of approval for therapeutic use issued for Townsend from 2007 until 2016 – the last of which was issued in March this year ahead of the Rio Olympics. “Stay tuned for new leaks”.
