Probably, FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar will be targeted by cybercriminals at a high level, like many others before. In this regard, all spectators and organizations participating in the event must take precautions to protect themselves from cyber risks.

The host country, Qatar, established its National Cyber Security Committee in 2013. In 2014, they published a National Cyber Security Strategy document, addressing action plans, implementations, and identifying possible threats in Qatar’s cyber landscape. Qatar has positioned itself to have robust cyber security controls in place over the years to ensure the cyber security of the event. 

As another target for potential cyber threats, all FIFA spectators should be aware of the following points: 

• Maintaining general cyber security hygiene (Using up-to-date software, anti-virus, etc.)
• To be aware of the numerous social engineering strategies that cybercriminals employ.
• To be aware of digital communication and website links related to the World Cup, especially not clicking on suspicious emails and web links with World Cup themes;
• Not to use credentials, passwords, or credit card information on sites or platforms where they are unsure of the security.

While FIFA World Cup 2022 event approaches, it is predicted that cyber threat activities will increase even more, and especially tournament-themed phishing campaigns and fake domain names will rise. Threat intelligence gathered before, during, and after the organization helps to determine the security environment and potential threats. For this challenge, a CTI (Cyber Threat Intelligence) solution fed by all channels, including social media, OSINT, and the dark web, will be helpful.

As an extended threat intelligence solution, SOCRadar will closely monitor cyber-attacks during the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar and keep users updated.

FIFA World Cup 2022 will be organized in Qatar from November 20 to December 18, 2022. Predictions show that 1.5 million people will travel to Qatar to watch the tournament, which national teams from 32 countries will attend. Such large international organizations are becoming more attractive to cyber attackers. People’s and the media’s interest in these organizations, the use of high-tech in such events, the digital activities of all the players, audience, visitors, fans, stakeholders, and people’s lack of awareness of cyber security all pave the way for cyber threat actors. 

Past experiences show that large-scale sports organizations attract threat actors. Russian authorities announced during FIFA World Cup 2018 that they blocked 25 million cyber-attacks. At the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the organization was targeted by 12 million cyber-attacks per day, totaling 600 million. Across the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, authorities prevented 450 million cyber-attacks on the official website and organizing committee systems. The number of attacks on Tokyo was particularly remarkable because the Olympics were played without an audience within the scope of the Covid-19 measures, so attacks like ticket sales fraud and stealing personal information were on the lowest level.

In addition to the large attacks that drew public attention, numerous fraud and scam attacks like phishing emails containing promotional or lottery offers, threat actors used fake FIFA ticket sales websites, fake live streaming or score/match schedule tracking links, and malware-embedded mobile applications in the previous FIFA events. Although these attacks, carried out specifically to collect personal data and have financial gain appear small-scale, they have a significant impact as they are both large and aimed at all fans worldwide.

As the FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar is getting ready to kick off, the attackers have already started their operations. SOCRadar Extended Threat Intelligence platform has detected various intelligence from different sources, and SOCRadar researchers focused on profiling threat actors targeting this prestigious organization.