Pierluigi Paganini
June 23, 2025
Resecurity (USA) identified the threat actors associated with the “Cyber Fattah” movement leaked thousands of records containing information about visitors and athletes from past Saudi Games, one of the major sports events in the Kingdom.
The stolen data has been leaked in the form of SQL dumps – the actors gained unauthorized access to phpMyAdmin and exfiltrated stored records. Resecurity interprets this incident as part of a broader information operation (IO) conducted by Iran and its proxies to create a sense of insecurity and destabilize peace in the region. Based on the expert assessment, Iran is accelerating anti-US, anti-Israel, and anti-Saudi propaganda activities in cyberspace, targeting major sports and social events.
Notably, the incident is significant due to increasing Israel-Iran tensions, with threat actors aiming to capitalize on the important role of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States in regional relationships and security. Several Hezbollah-linked, Hamas-linked, and pro-Iranian groups in Iraq also amplified the incident by integrating it with targeted propaganda activities via digital media channels.
The data is originating from a database presumably related to the Saudi Games 2024 official website, where visitors, athletes, and their teams could register and share their personal information for further validation and activation of their profiles. The actors described the event as one of the biggest in the region – massively followed locally – and officially launched by the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to promote sports across the nation. Likely, the choice of target was not random and was part of information operation (IO) orchestrated by Iran to spread a narrative of insecurity.
The breach of such a scale contains a trove of sensitive data, ranging from personally identifiable information (PII) of visitors and athletes to International Bank Account Numbers (IBANs) and medical examination certificates shared with the event organizers.
The hack of a major sports competition is significant for several reasons, as it can have wide-ranging implications across multiple domains, including cybersecurity, sports integrity, and global audiences. No date has yet been confirmed for the Saudi Games 2025, but the Kingdom is hosting a variety of major sports events that attract audiences from all over the world including Islamic Solidarity Games, Esports World Cup 2025 and Gulf Cup 2026.
Hosting the Olympics in 2036 is one of the national targets and priorities for Saudi Arabia. Likely, threat actors attempted to interfere with efforts of the country and abuse the reputation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by conducting a targeted cyberattack on the Saudi Games.
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