In April, this year, former Home Secretary David Blunkett warned that the Olympics could be hit by “devastating” cyber attacks if more was not done to boost the country’s IT defenses.
A series of precautions, for worst-case scenario, are to be carried out in March and May of next year, just months prior to the Games’ opening.
One of the biggest threats posed to Olympics is not a crashed server or power outage, but a premeditated cyber attack by the professionals.
During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, China suffered about 12 million online attacks per day.
The UK has learned lessons from its predecessor, said Gerry Pennell, chief information officer for London 2012.
Despite the extensive planning, Olympic authorities say that they are unaware of any explicit threat.
Olympics’ permanent staff of 180 workers is doing dry runs of sporting events, as they try to identify and fix the problems.
Since the 2008’s Games, the nature and scope of cyber crimes has dramatically changed.
A series of hacks and website takedowns – orchestrated by Anonymous and LulzSec – has hit organizations including Sony, HB Gary, and the UK and US governments.
More complex attacks, such as the Stuxnet worm, which targeted Iran’s nuclear industry, highlighted the sophistication of politically motivated hackers.
Such threats have been taken into account by designers working on the Olympic systems, said Gerry Pennell.
Since taken charge of the seat, David Cameron has showed his sheer commitment to protect the country from any sort of cyber attacks.
Source: bbc
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