“Storm-1679” and “Storm-1099”. It is through these two groups of Russian influence that Moscow is leading a disinformation campaign targeting the Paris Olympic Games, which officially open on July 26 and end on August 11.
Russia has increased the scale of this campaign, a Microsoft observatory reported on Monday, June 3. The Threat Analysis Center (MTAC), managed by the American technology giant, cites these two Russian-influenced groups which combine “old tactics with artificial intelligence (AI) to carry out harmful activities”.
The content broadcast aims, among other things, to defame France, its President Emmanuel Macron, as well as the International Olympic Committee (IOC), according to a message posted Sunday on the Microsoft website.
Fake messages from the CIA
According to Microsoft and the MTAC, Storm-1679 “also seeks to sow fear to dissuade spectators from attending the Games.” To do this, this influential group notably posted misleading videos online. One of them pretends to be content produced by the France 24 news channel and claims that 24% of tickets sold were returned for fear of an attack during the Games, which is false. Another video subject presents itself as a message from the CIA (the main American intelligence agency) and the French Directorate General of Internal Security. He advises Internet users not to go to France due to the risk of attack.
As for “Storm-1099”, it uses a network of 15 sites with content written in French and which present themselves as news media, which they are not. These platforms also warn of possible attacks during the Games, criticizing Emmanuel Macron and his government, accused of indifference to the problems of the French. MTAC expects these activities to “intensify” as the opening ceremony approaches.
An anti-CIO mockumentary
The IOC has repeatedly denounced a “campaign of disinformation and defamation led by Russia”. In June 2023, “Storm-1679” posted an anti-IOC fake documentary online entitled “the Olympic Games have fallen”, inspired by The White House fall (2013) and using artificial intelligence to imitate the voice of American actor Tom Cruise.
The shadow of Russia looms behind the affair of the five coffins discovered on Saturday at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. This incident echoes two recent cases where the same suspicions of foreign manipulation exist. On the night of May 13 to 14, red hands were sprayed on the Holocaust memorial in Paris and the police suspect three people having fled abroad. In October, after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Stars of David were sprayed on several building facades in the Paris region. The facts, for which a Moldovan couple was arrested, were attributed by the French authorities to the Russian security services (FSB).