The move comes after the Federation were the victim of a cyber attack last year by the Fancy Bears group.

Nearly 50 athletes were affected by the hack, with IAAF documents leaked as a result of the attack.

Fancy Bears’ – thought to be a Russian hacking group – began releasing data in 2015 with a focus largely on naming those who had sought therapeutic use exemptions, which allow athletes to take banned substances for verified medical needs.

The IAAF revealed last April that they had been hacked by the group the previous February.

A systems and cyber-security manager is now being sought by the IAAF, which is based in Monaco.

“Reporting to the chief information officer, the systems and cyber-security manager will work with partners to design cloud and hosted infrastructures supporting the IAAF portfolio of new data services and products ensuring that security and availability requirements are fully met,” the IAAF stated in the job advert. 

“The successful candidate will also manage the internal system and network team in charge of the headquarters infrastructure and end user support as well as provide world athletics series events IT support.”

A systems and network engineer will also be employed by the IAAF, with the successful candidate set to report to the systems and cyber-security manager.

They will help to “operate and evolve the IAAF internal/cloud systems and network and work with and coordinate with cloud and infrastructure vendors”.

It is claimed this with ensure a smooth and efficient service for users.

The IAAF apologised to athletes following last year’s hack, while Athletics Integrity Unit head David Howman claimed the released documents were incomplete and misleading.

Howman had also claimed the hack undermined the fight against doping in the sport.

insidethegames has asked the IAAF for a comment on the new appointments.

Source

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1061818/iaaf-eye-appointments-to-boost-cyber-security-in-wake-of-hacks