Olympics hack highlights emerging 'false flags' threat - researcher

Kaspersky Lab CEO Eugene Kaspersky speaks at opening reception at the Kaspersky Security Analyst Summit in Cancun, Mexico, March 7, 2018. REUTERS/Jim Finkle

CANCUN, Mexico (Reuters) - The "Olympic Destroyer" computer virus used to attack last month's Pyeongchang Winter Games was embedded with forged code to make investigators believe the attack was done by hackers linked to North Korea, Russia's Kaspersky Lab reported on Thursday.

Discovery of the effort to insert a fake digital fingerprint in the Olympic Destroyer virus underscores the emerging threat of hackers using false flags to incriminate innocent parties or undermine confidence in information provided by security researchers.