France has launched an international “disinfection” to destroy botnets ahead of the Olympics

On the eve of the Olympics, the French authorities are conducting a large-scale operation to clean devices of malicious software that posed a threat of espionage, involving international partners.

The Paris Court (Tribunal Judiciaire de Paris) has opened an investigation into a botnet network that was used for espionage purposes and infected millions of devices worldwide. Sekoia, a cybersecurity company, took control of the network’s management server. Infected machines used the PlugX malware, which received instructions from a central server to collect data. Every day, the server processed requests from almost 100,000 infected devices.

The authorities, together with Sekoia, developed a technological solution for the disinfection of devices, which was presented to international partners through the Europol agency. The operation, which began on July 18, 2024, will last for several months and will cover France, Malta, Portugal, Croatia, Slovakia and Austria.

The French government emphasizes the importance of daily IT security measures, advising the use of up-to-date anti-virus software. The National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI) will individually notify French victims by the end of 2024. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal emphasized the inevitability of cyber attacks during the Olympics, calling for caution and preparedness.

France, together with international partners, is conducting a large-scale operation to disinfect devices from malicious software on the eve of the Olympic Games, increasing the level of cyber security and preparedness for possible attacks.