The Trend Micro expert who assisted NBC has promised to provide technical details

Feb 7, 2014 07:50 GMT  ·  By
The Sochi Olympics are not as dangerous for Internet users as NBC wants you to think
   The Sochi Olympics are not as dangerous for Internet users as NBC wants you to think

Earlier this week, NBC News ran a story about the threats targeting those who attend the Sochi Olympics. The bottom line of it was that most people attending the event would surely be hacked as soon as they connected to the Internet.

We’ve highlighted that the NBC story neglects to mention that none of the test devices had any security software on them – a fact revealed in a blog published by Kyle Wilhoit, the Trend Micro expert who assisted NBC with the experiment.

However, even more details have emerged, suggesting that NBC’s report is highly exaggerated.

First of all, Wilhoit has revealed that they weren’t even in Sochi during the experiment. They were actually in Moscow, Russia’s capital city, which is over 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) away.

The way NBC edited the story leaves out a lot of technical details and because everything is taken out of context, it might appear that all those who visit Sochi will be hacked instantly. That’s why the Trend Micro expert will publish a paper with all the details to clarify how exactly users are targeted.

Cyber security expert Robert Graham goes as far as calling the NBC story “100% fraudulent.” Graham explains that the Android phone used in the experiment didn’t actually get hacked. Instead, Engle, the NBC correspondent, downloaded a malicious Android app to the device.

Furthermore, the expert says the computers got hacked because shady Olympics-themed websites had been visited.

“Absolutely 0% of the story was about turning on a computer and connecting to a Sochi network. 100% of the story was about visiting websites remotely. Thus, the claim of the story that you'll get hacked immediately upon turning on your computers is fraudulent. The only thing that can be confirmed by the story is ‘don't let Richard Engel borrow your phone’,” Graham explained.

Basically, if you make sure all your software is up to date, have an antivirus installed, and don't click on suspicious links or ads, you should be fine. Also, if you need to connect to public Wi-Fi, secure your data by using a VPN.