FBI Urges Athletes to Keep Personal Devices at Home, Use Burners During Beijing Winter Olympics
upstart writes:
FBI urges athletes to keep personal devices at home, use burners during Beijing Winter Olympics:
In a notice released on Monday, the FBI warned Olympic athletes about bringing their devices to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and March 2022 Paralympics while also raising concerns about the potential for cyberattacks against the event.
In a wide-ranging alert, the FBI said entities associated with the games should prepare for "a broad range of cyber activities to disrupt these events", including distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, ransomware, malware, social engineering, data theft or leaks, phishing campaigns, disinformation campaigns, or insider threats.
The attacks would seek to "block or disrupt the live broadcast of the event, steal or leak sensitive data, or impact public or private digital infrastructure supporting the Olympics."
"Additionally, the FBI warns Olympic participants and travelers of potential threats associated with mobile applications developed by untrusted vendors. The download and use of applications, including those required to participate or stay in country, could increase the opportunity for cyber actors to steal personal information or install tracking tools, malicious code, or malware," the FBI said.
"The FBI urges all athletes to keep their personal cell phones at home and use a temporary phone while at the Games. The National Olympic Committees in some Western countries are also advising their athletes to leave personal devices at home or use temporary phones due to cybersecurity concerns at the Games. The FBI to date is not aware of any specific cyber threat against the Olympics, but encourages partners to remain vigilant and maintain best practices in their network and digital environments."
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