A decision on whether a suspension should be reimposed on Russia could be made by the end of next month, the World Anti-Doping Agency revealed tonight.
However, their case may have been damaged by new reports from Microsoft claiming a group linked to the Moscow Government tried to hack the computers of 16 international anti-doping agencies.
Microsoft revealed that in some cases they were successful.
In a blog post written by Tom Burt, the corporate vice-president of customer security and trust at Microsoft, it is claimed the hackers began their attacks on September 16.
That was shortly before reports emerged that WADA suspected Russia had tampered with evidence they had handed over the Moscow Laboratory.
Burt identified Fancy Bear, also known as APT28 or Strontium, as the culprit.
“Microsoft has notified all customers targeted in these attacks and has worked with those who have sought our help to secure compromised accounts or systems.”
APT28 has been linked to the Vladimir Putin Government by cybersecurity technology companies CrowdStrike and FireEye.
Last year, Microsoft President Brad Smith claimed Strontium was “a group widely associated with the Russian Government” in a statement.
“The methods used in the most recent attacks are similar to those routinely used by Strontium to target Governments, militaries, think tanks, law firms, human rights organisations, financial firms and universities around the world,” Burt wrote.
“Strontium’s methods include spear-phishing, password spray, exploiting internet-connected devices and the use of both open-source and custom malware.”
Russian hackers first targeted WADA in August 2016 shortly after they had recommended that the country be banned from competing in that year’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The cyber espionage group have also attacked the computers of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Association of Athletics Federations, who have banned Russian athletes from competing since November 2015.