THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014 SPORTS Hackers target Brazil’s World Cup SAO PAULO: Brazilian hackers are army created a Cyber Defense Center, threatening to disrupt the World Cup which leads a multi-agency task force with attacks ranging from jamming for the Cup. Besides DDoS attacks, websites to data theft, adding cyber they may also face website deface- warfare to the list of challenges for a ment and data theft. competition already marred by The worst-case scenario would be protests, delays and overspending. an attack sophisticated enough to In a country with rampant online crippleBrazil’s power grid, communi- crime, a challenging telecommunica- cations or air-traffic control systems. tions infrastructure and little experi- But General dos Santos said in a ence with cyber attacks, authorities recent interview that authorities aren’t are rushing to protect government expecting anything that bad. websites and those of FIFA, soccer’s “The probability for that is much governing body. lower,” he said. For their part, the Furious about the 33 billion reais Anonymous members said they ($14 billion) in federal funds being would not do anything to target the spent on World Cup preparations, Brazilian people. The government and more than a million Brazilians took to event organizers, however, are anoth- the streets last June in a wave of mass er matter. demonstrations, calling for better And despite the government’s public services, greater transparency, preparations, the hackers say they are LONDON: Hull City’s Robert Koren scores his side’s second goal from a free kick during the FA Cup Fifth Round replay at the KC Stadium. —AP and a crackdown on corruption. Now, fully up to speed, and not terribly hackers say they will join the fray. impressed by what they see as mea- “We are already making plans,” said ger defenses. Hull, Charlton advance an alleged hacker who goes by the “It’s nothing out of this world”, said nom de guerre of Eduarda Dioratto. “I an activist called Bile Day. “Security don’t think there is much they can do remains very low.” Indeed, security to stop us.” experts said Brazil could be caught ill- into FA Cup quarters Reuters contacted Dioratto and prepared. The country, with no other self-proclaimed members of the geopolitical enemies, is not used to international hacker network known being on guard and, as such, may not LONDON: Hull City booked an FA Cup quarter- Hull then survived some nervous moments scoring for visitors Charlton before Leon Best’s as Anonymous by finding them even be aware of the extent of its vul- final with Premier League rivals Sunderland to set up a meeting with manager Steve second-half goal drew Wednesday level. online. Though unable to confirm nerabilities. after seeing off second-tier Brighton 2-1 in a Bruce’s former club and prevent Brighton com- But Wales international Simon Church their true identities, Reuters spoke “Brazil is a big target, it’s neutral fifth round replay on Monday. ing face to face with their old boss Gus Poyet, swung the tie back the way of the south with them in the interest of under- and has a challenging infrastructure,” Also through to the last eight were who is now in charge of Sunderland and left London club by heading in Charlton captain standing their threats and what said Marcos Oliveira, an executive with Charlton, who spoilt fellow Championship side his job at the second tier side under acrimo- Johnnie Jackson’s second-half free-kick. Sheffield Wednesday’s dream of a derby with nious circumstances last year. However, it took a stunning stoppage-time impact they might have on the World US network security firm Blue Coat. Sheffield United after a 2-1 win at Hillsborough “Particularly playing Sunderland with this save from Charlton goalkeeper Ben Hamer, Cup. “It’s the perfect storm.” in their fifth round clash. Curtis Davies’s header gaffer (Bruce), it’s going to be a big game,” who hurled himself at Chris Maguire’s deflect- They said the event offers an Aside from the banks, which now and Robert Koren’s deflected free-kick put Hull Davies told ITV4. “Obviously Sunderland are ed shot, to prevent Wednesday securing a unprecedented global audience and invest heavily in online security, 2-0 up at the KC Stadium inside 35 minutes but going into the (League) Cup final next week replay. an opportune moment to target sites Brazilian companies pay little atten- south coast club Brighton, losing FA Cup final- (March 2 against Manchester City) as well so It all meant Championship relegation candi- operated by FIFA, the government, tion to the problem. And more than ists in 1983, were given hope when Leonardo they’ll be trying to do well in both cups and dates Charlton denied Sheffield football fans a other organizers or corporate spon- half of Brazil’s computers run pirate Ulloa, who scored in the first meeting between stay in the league so it will be an interesting first ‘Steel City’ derby in the FA Cup since sors. “The attacks will be directed software, which makes them more the clubs, headed home from close range in game but hopefully we will come out on top.” Wednesday beat United in a Wembley semi- against official websites and those of vulnerable to a denial-of-service the 69th minute. In Sheffield, Callum Harriott opened the final in 1993. —AFP companies sponsoring the Cup,” a attack. hacker known as Che Commodore said in a late-nightSkype conversation. GROWING BREACHES While most of the fretting ahead of Brazil is not entirely untested. The Diamanti sparkles in the tournament is focused on the government grew far more sensitive completion of stadiums by kickoff on to cybersecurity issues last year after June 1, experts agree that little atten- reports that the US National Security tion is being paid toBrazil’s telecom- Agency spied on President Dilma munications infrastructure. Rousseffand millions of ordinary Guangzhou comeback Problems include overstrained net- Brazilians. works, widespread use of pirated soft- Officials have also tracked a grow- BEIJING: New signing Alessandro Diamanti ware and low investment in online ing number of online security breach- starred with two magical strikes as AFC security. To make matters worse, Brazil es during other big events in recent Champions League title-holders Guangzhou is home to one of the world’s most years. In 2012, during a United Evergrande fought back from two goals down to sophisticated cyber-criminal commu- Nations conference on climate change beat Melbourne Victory 4-2 yesterday. In a nities, which is already disrupting tick- in Rio de Janeiro, the cyber command dream debut, the 30-year-old Italian internation- et sales and other World Cup com- detected 140 attempted security al inspired a rousing second-half comeback as merce. breaches. Attacks climbed to more the Marcello Lippi-led Chinese champions “It’s not a question of whether the than 300 for last year’s Confederations opened their trophy defence in style. Cup will be targeted, but when,” said Cup, a dress rehearsal for the World The departure of influential midfielder Dario William Beer, a cybersecurity expert Cup. “We expect that number to be Conca had raised questions about Guangzhou with the consultancy firm Alvarez & much higher for the Cup,” said General but his replacement, Diamanti, quickly settled those doubts with a memorable performance at Marsal. “So resilience and response Dos Santos. And they will likely a packed Tianhe stadium. become extremely important.” Brazil increase once again when Rio hosts First-half goals from Pablo Contreras and says it is ready, or as ready as it can be. the 2016 Olympics. Leigh Broxham threatened a huge upset in “It would be reckless for any nation ATOS, a French company in charge Group G but after the break, Guangzhou scored to say it’s 100 percent prepared for a of information technology networks four sparkling goals in 26 minutes through threat,” said General JosÈ Carlos dos for the Rio Olympics, said it detected Huang Bowen, Elkeson and Diamanti. Both sides Santos, the head of the cyber com- around 255 million security events had early chances with Victory’s Mark Milligan mand for Brazil’s army. “But Brazil is during London 2010. “It’s huge,” said and Guangzhou Evergrande forcing top-drawer prepared to respond to the most likely Michele Hyron, who heads the ATOS saves at opposite ends of the pitch around the cyber threats.” A FIFA spokesperson team for the Rio games. “And it had quarter-hour mark. declined to comment on online secu- absolutely no impact on the Games.” Victory got their opener on 36 minutes, when rity. Problems can occur ahead of the a Jesse Makarounas free-kick from the left was events, though, especially in a country poorly dealt with, Kosta Barbarouses fired in a FAST, DAMAGING AND SIMPLE with fast-growing Internet access and shot and Contreras tapped in the rebound. Known internationally for their booming online banking services, but The goal stunned Guangzhou and their high-profile attacks against the U.S. little regulation for either. massed ranks of red-clad fans, but there was TABRIZ: Iranian footballer of Tractor Sazi Karim Ansarifard (left) celebrates scoring with a Central Intelligence Agency, Sony and Seeking to capitalize on the mas- worse to come just five minutes later-and again teammate while Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad player Mukhtar Fallatah (right) looks on during their even the Vatican, Anonymous flexed sive demand for World Cup tickets, from the delivery of Makarounas, also from the AFC Champions League Group C football match. The Iranian team won 1-0.