'Hackers crippling ADAMS anti-doping system'

The Anti-Doping Administration & Management System (ADAMS) has started to malfunction in the wake of hacker attacks, spokesperson of Russia's Federal Medical and Biological Agency Veronika Loginova told the All-Russian Athlete Forum on Thursday.

"Recently ADAMS has frequently been glitching because of hacker attacks," she said, reports Tass.

"But athletes have an opportunity to report this fact by sending an e-mail to the address available on the WADA and the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) websites. This e-mail will serve as an excuse, if athletes fail to register in the ADAMS system."

ADAMS is a web-based database management system that coordinates anti-doping activities worldwide under the World Anti-Doping Code.

Each athlete has his or her profile containing information on the athlete's whereabouts, doping probes and permission to use various medications.

Recently, the hacker group calling themselves Fancy Bear hacked the ADAMS database and began to publish documents proving that in the past years some renowned athletes had taken banned substances for medical purposes.

A total of six lists were disclosed with 127 athletes from different countries on the lists, including top women's tennis players Serena and Venus Williams.

--IANS

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