Cyber Incident Victim: Česká televize
Date:
Feb 2022
Location:
Czechia
Summary
The Czech public broadcaster experienced repeated DDoS attacks targeting its sports channel during Winter Olympics coverage, causing website outages that disrupted live event streaming. These coordinated attacks overloaded systems with excessive requests, forcing the relocation of broadcasts—including a Czech hockey match—to emergency pages. The incidents consistently coincided with transmissions featuring national athletes, beginning prior to the opening ceremony and persisting throughout key competitions.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 1 motive | 1 technique |
| Threat Actors | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 0 actors | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
The Czech public television broadcaster Česká televize (ČT) experienced a series of disruptive cyber attacks targeting its online services during the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The incident began on the morning of February 11, 2022, when a cyber attack disabled the websites of ČT's sports channel during its live broadcast of the Czech Republic versus Switzerland men's ice hockey Olympic match. This forced the broadcaster to relocate its streaming service to an emergency backup page to maintain coverage. The February 11 attack represented an escalation in an ongoing campaign, as ČT had first reported service disruptions the previous Friday (February 4) just prior to its scheduled broadcast of the Olympic opening ceremony. Subsequent attacks continued to coincide with live coverage of events featuring Czech athletes throughout the Games.
The attacks employed distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) techniques that overwhelmed ČT's web infrastructure through massive volumes of artificial traffic. This systematic targeting specifically disrupted digital streaming services during critical Olympic events involving Czech competitors, indicating deliberate timing to maximize visibility. ČT's immediate response involved activating contingency broadcasting arrangements, including redirecting viewers to alternative online platforms when primary services became unavailable. The broadcaster maintained public communication through its Twitter account, confirming each service disruption and recovery effort. While the attacks caused significant operational challenges, ČT maintained television broadcasts through traditional transmission methods unaffected by the digital assaults. The repeated nature of these incidents demonstrated persistent targeting of ČT's Olympic coverage infrastructure throughout the Games period.