National Olympic Committees (NOCs) in some Western countries are advising their athletes to leave personal devices at home or use temporary phones due to cybersecurity concerns at the Beijing Winter Games.
Many NOCs said they will provide their athletes and staff with temporary devices to avoid security risks and combat any surveillance during the Games, which will take place from 4 to 20 February in China.
“It must be assumed that every text, email, online visit and application access can be monitored or compromised,” the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) said in a statement.
The entity suggested using rented or disposable laptops and phones while representatives are in Beijing. The recommendation to those who intend to take their equipment is to clean all data from personal devices before and after the trip. The committee further recommended that members install virtual private networks (VPNs) on devices before leaving the United States.
Despite the safeguards in place to protect its systems and data, there should be “no expectation of data security or privacy while operating in China,” the USOPC added.
Beijing Olympic officials could not immediately be reached for comment. The International Olympic Committee said that “it is not for us to comment on the advice an NOC can provide to members of its delegation”.
The Canadian Olympic Committee said it advised members to leave personal devices at home and be more diligent as the Games presented “a unique opportunity for cybercrime”.
The Swiss and Swedish committees will also provide new devices to their delegations and inform them about measures they can take to have cybersecurity.
“We also provide information to athletes about the situation in China in cooperation with the Civil Rights Defenders organization, so that athletes can make their own decisions about how to use personal equipment during the Olympics,” the Swedish committee said.
The British Olympic Association said it has given practical advice to athletes and officials on how to bring their personal devices to Beijing and that it will provide temporary devices for those who want them.
Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant reported last week that the country’s Olympic committee intends to equip its team members with unused devices.
Some other countries are less concerned about cybersecurity issues in Beijing, however.
The NOCs of Slovenia and Slovakia said that they will not offer temporary devices to team members, while the NOC of Croatia stated that it will allow its delegation to bring their own devices. Serbia said it does not plan additional cybersecurity measures.
In another similar issue, researchers said that a Beijing Organizing Committee app, which all participants must use to monitor their health, contains security flaws that make it vulnerable to privacy breaches.
Yu Hong, head of the technology department at the Beijing Organizing Committee, said that these issues are natural when developing this type of app and that his department is constantly updating to address them.
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