PyeongChang 2018 Provides Olympic Opportunity for Hackers

​Although the Olympics are designed to promote international peace and cooperation, they recently have become the stage of international cyberattacks. Whether it’s state-affiliated organizations hacking for political ends or individual cyber-thieves trying to make a quick buck on the multi-billion-dollar event, we’ve seen a good deal of criminal activity online around the Olympics.

In fact, so successful have the hackers become that they managed to interrupt the opening ceremonies in a malware attack, preventing reporters from accessing Wi-Fi and temporarily forcing the event’s official website offline. And the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a warning to U.S. citizens traveling to the games, notifying them of that attempts on their personal information were extremely likely.

Sounds sinister? It is – but not in any extraordinary sense. Large-scale events like the Olympics, which frequently require a good deal of coordination and necessitate sharing sensitive information, often attract thieves. The mindset is nothing new – it’s just that the tools have changed.

That being said, the DHS was wise to remind travelers of best digital hygiene practices: creating strong passwords, turning off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth services, making online purchases with a credit card, installing the most recent software updates and not using public networks for websites where passwords and other sensitive information are required.

These are strong recommendations, and worth adhering to, no matter where you travel or what events you’re attending. We’d also recommend keeping a sharp eye on your email, and deleting anything that looks suspicious before you open it. One of the successful cyberattacks so far was a phishing attack made on tourism groups, ski resorts and other sectors helping to organize the games. It involved an email that, if opened and its contents clicked on, would allow hackers to access the computer and subsequently install programs that allowed for further exploitation of the computer’s contents.

Such phishing attempts are common enough, but when you’re traveling and dealing with so many other distracting, disorienting factors, it’s easy to let your guard down and open an email that you would delete without thinking twice back home. Extra vigilance is always important when traveling – and it’s not the time to shirk on maintaining basic digital hygiene.

As the Olympics draw to a close over the next several days, organizers, sponsors, athletes and viewers will have much to congratulate themselves for – but they will also be faced with a challenge. The Olympics will continue to face these kinds of attacks in the years to come, especially as the technology around them grows more connected and more immersive.

Government leaders must begin to strategize now about how best to manage and minimize these threats in the future. Industry sponsors must to all they can to ensure a spectator experience that combines innovation and dynamism with safety and security. Athletes need to prepare themselves for the risk involved in sharing their medical data. And spectators must strive to keep abreast of developments in cybersecurity, always using the most up-to-date strategies to keep themselves safe as they travel.

This, of course, is no small task – but then again, neither is the Olympics. By working together, we can keep the Olympics what it is designed to be: a display of the world’s best, most awe-inspiring athletic talent and its ongoing commitment to excellence, strength and peace.