The organizers of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics confirmed Saturday that they are investigating a cyber attack that took place during the opening ceremony.
In a statement via Yonhap News Agency, the PyeongChang Organizing Committee said that a cyber attack from an unknown perpetrator caused the Internet protocol televisions in the Main Press Centre to malfunction. To prevent further damage, the decision was made to shut down the official Olympic website.
This meant that anyone who had purchased spectator tickets was unable to print them off. The servers were fully restored early Saturday morning.
The organizing committee emphasized that the attack had impacted “non-critical systems” and that “the safety and security of any athletes or spectators” was not jeopardized at any point.
For all the behind-the-scenes trouble, the ceremony appeared to go off without a hitch. That’s good, partially because it meant the internet got to go to town on Team USA’s gloves.
