Formula 1 organizer email accounts hacked

The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), an organization behind many popular car racing events, including Formula 1, has disclosed a data breach.

Someone within the organization seems to have fallen victim to a phishing attack that allowed threat actors to gain access to two email accounts belonging to the organization.

The FIA said those accounts contained personal information but didn’t provide details about the data involved or to whom it belonged.

“The FIA took all actions to rectify the issues, notably in cutting the illegitimate accesses in a very short time,” they said. Data protection officers in France and Switzerland were notified about the incident.

It’s not really surprising that threat actors target popular sports events and their organizers. Formula 1 is no exception. The F1 British Grand Prix will take place on July 5th - 7th. Similar events in Hungary and Belgium are scheduled for July, too, with many more F1 races happening in the world throughout this summer and autumn.

"Because F1 operates year-round, it is too early to say that this is an opportunistic attack based on any specific upcoming events,” Jared Sladich, cyber threat intelligence engineering manager at security company Cofense, told Cybernews.

Formula 1 is indeed a massive sports empire, and it’s not only FIA that is and will be targeted. Formula 1 fans and all businesses related to racing should be cautious of various incoming emails, text messages, and fraudulent ticket resellers.

The automotive industry, especially brands associated with luxury, often finds itself under the crook's spotlight since there’s simply more money to be stolen.

In 2022, Silverstone Circuit, a well-known motor racing circuit in the UK hosting the British Grand Prix leg of Formula 1, was claimed by a ransom gang

Silverstone Circuit is a well-known motor racing circuit in the UK, hosting the British Grand Prix leg of the Formula One race since 1948. How much money the Royal ransomware gang demanded from the organization wasn’t disclosed. However, we know that these crooks are greedy ones, asking for up to $11 million from their victims in exchange for data and a ransomware decryption key.

Another popular brand that found itself dealing with cybercriminals was Ferrari. The sports and race car manufacturer fell victim to a ransomware attack in March 2023 but refused to succumb to the criminals’ demands.