As Japan prepares for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, the country must also prepare for sophisticated cyberattacks, experts say.
With the proliferation of smart devices and low-cost aircraft, these attacks are likely to increase not only in number but also in complexity.
Previous Olympic host countries have faced a huge number of cyberattacks, with estimated numbers running at 500 million during the 2016 Rio Olympics and 250 million at the 2012 London Games, and Tokyo is expected to face similar threats.
The organizers of the games already faced such a threat last September, when a group of hackers tried unsuccessfully to steal private information from people in the United States and Japan by sending fake ticket offers via email
Toshio Nawa, executive director and senior security analyst at the Tokyo-based Cyber Defense Institute, warned that everyone should be on guard because hackers are using a combination of virtual and real attacks.
The former executive programmer of Japan's Air Self-Defense Force, who oversees signals, encryption and the air defense command system, said caution is needed when watching matches on smartphones.
“Attackers might create a website telling you that you can watch the Olympics for free, but they will have malware in it. The moment you access the website, a malicious app will be downloaded and installed on your phone,” he said.
Once hackers gain access to your personal information, they can perform a whole range of malicious actions, such as using your credit card or penetrating the network of the company you work for to steal corporate secrets, Nawa added.
Noboru Nakatani, a former Interpol expert, said that breaching critical infrastructure, particularly telecommunications and transportation systems, is a common way for hackers to destroy a country.
According to a 2018 Rand Rick Corp. report, the 2012 London Olympics suffered a 40-minute DDoS attack on the venue's electrical systems during the opening ceremony.
"In the United States, there are cases where metro ticketing systems have been down. If trains are unable to operate during the games, that would obviously cause huge chaos," Nakatani said.
With hackers likely to target the less secure networks of sponsors and other companies working with the Olympic Committee, "subcontractors and suppliers should also ensure that their systems are impenetrable in terms of security," Nakatani said.
The former assistant director for cybercrime at Japan's National Police Agency said that information sharing and international cooperation are crucial to detecting potential breaches early. Nawa believes the law should be amended to allow for stronger countermeasures.
"At an event where so many eyes are on it, hackers could promote themselves or terrorists could publicize their beliefs. We must not allow the Olympics to become a platform for such acts," he said.
