Page 216 - Cyber Defense eMagazine August 2024

Guarding the Games: Cybersecurity and the 2024 Summer

Olympics

By Desrah Kraft, Cyber Threat Intelligence Engineer, DefenseStorm

As Paris prepares to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, athletes from around the world converge
to represent their country. But beyond the cheers and medals lies a digital underworld. The cyber threat
landscape during major sporting events, including the Olympics, has become increasingly treacherous.

In the past decade, the number of cyberattacks has surged dramatically. During the London 2012 Games,
there were approximately 212 million cyberattacks. Fast-forward to the Tokyo 2021 Olympics and that
number skyrocketed to a staggering 4.4 billion. This year, experts anticipate an even greater onslaught
of threats, including disruption attempts, disinformation campaigns, and cybercrime, making robust
cybersecurity measures imperative for safeguarding this global spectacle. In a recent interview, Director
General of ANSSI [The National Cybersecurity Agency of France], Vincent Strubel, stated, "We are
getting ready for all types of attacks -- everything we see on a daily basis but in bigger, more numerous
and more frequent." Additionally, Strubel commented, “We can't prevent all the attacks; there will not be
games without attacks, but we have to limit their impact on the Olympics.”

Cyber Defense eMagazine – August 2024 Edition 216
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