Security News

Hacker Claims Breach of Belgian Table Tennis and Gymnastics Federations

The Record · 22 Sept 2026

Key Takeaway Even small membership-based organisations hold valuable personal data, so businesses should ensure their IT providers maintain strong access controls and monitoring to detect breaches early.

Belgium's Royal Belgian Table Tennis Federation (FRBTT) and its French-speaking branch, the Association Francophone de Tennis de Table (AFTT), are investigating a cyberattack after a hacker known as Venus1337 claimed to have stolen data belonging to tens of thousands of members and users. The AFTT confirmed the attack occurred and said its IT team, along with its website service provider, is examining the extent of the breach.

According to the tracking site FrenchBreaches, sample data posted online included names, membership numbers, sporting sanction records, and other member information. The attacker claimed to have taken around 1.7 gigabytes of data covering more than 66,800 members and 17,400 users, plus club administrative accounts, though these claims have not been independently verified and the federation has not confirmed the scope of the alleged theft.

The AFTT said checks so far have found no evidence that contact details such as phone numbers or emails were accessed, but the investigation continues, and affected individuals will be notified if personal data is confirmed compromised. The same hacker also claimed responsibility for a separate breach at Belgium's French-speaking Gymnastics Federation days earlier, suggesting a pattern of attacks against sporting organisations.

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