The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris is just around the corner, but with it comes cybersecurity risks. According to data from NTT Corporation and BT Security, the number of cyber attacks during past Olympic Games has increased, from 212 million attacks during the London 2012 Olympics to 450 million attacks during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Nick Schneider, CEO and President of Arctic Wolf, joins Asking For A Trend to share his insights on cybersecurity threats at the Paris Olympics.
Schneider outlined what cyber attacks will look like: “People will attack supply chains again. Bad actors will look for vulnerabilities. I think you’ll start to see nation-state activity that will infiltrate these environments through less sophisticated means, but also more sophisticated means. I think AI, as an attack surface in itself, will provide bad actors with new opportunities and even new vectors of attack. And all of this provides great opportunities for bad actors in the context of this larger global stage.”
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This post Nicholas Jacobino
Video Transcript
The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics are fast approaching.
According to various estimates, over 15 million visitors are expected during the event.
Naturally, this increased attention also attracts the unwelcome attention of cybercriminals.
The Olympics have long been a target of cyberattacks, but the Tokyo Olympics saw 450 million cyber threats, 2.5 times more than the London Olympics.
So what’s in store for us in Paris this year? Nick Schneider, CEO and President of Arctic Wolf, joins us to talk about Nick.
We are delighted that you have joined.
Actually, Nick.
Well, before we get into that, I was actually curious because you have such unique insight.
Well, Nick, on a broader scale, there are certainly indications that the economy could be cooling off against that backdrop.
Nick.
Just curious, how much does security currently cost in your industry?
Um, what’s the demand, Nick?
Is that strong?
Well, first of all, thank you for having me.
I think cybersecurity is an industry that, unfortunately, will always be in high demand.
I believe threat actors are becoming increasingly sophisticated.
I think it will present new opportunities for threat actors, especially AI, to leverage new technologies in organizations.
Well, the demand environment is pretty high.
And I think you’ll see that through the resilience of the cybersecurity marketplace, the public market itself.
Now, Nick Lee, let’s talk about some of the events that are likely hot topics in your industry.
As I said earlier, that is the Olympics.
Well, games are often targets for cyber attacks.
Nick, do you expect the same pattern to continue this year?
Yes, I think so.
Well, you know, there’s a global event coming up.
Well, with millions of people participating and thousands of vendors being leveraged throughout a relatively short period of time, it creates a huge opportunity for supply chain attacks.
Yeah, and especially, you know, these organizations are being asked to do a lot in a relatively short amount of time, even as they try to prepare.
And many of these organizations are setting up operations in locations and types of events they are unfamiliar with, to deny opportunities to bad actors.
And on top of that, I think geopolitical tensions will become even more pronounced on the global stage, which will again present opportunities for bad actors.
And I think we’ll see an increase in the use of AI across games, not just in how they’re presented but how they’re produced.
Well, that in itself will bring new opportunities.
You know, I think there were bad actors at these Olympics, and Nick, you say bad actors, who are we talking about?
So, are we talking about criminal organisations?
Is it a rogue state that is all of the above and more?
Well, I think that especially with an event of this magnitude, especially with so many organizations and so many countries involved, there will be a mix of all of the above throughout the event itself.
Speaking of the attack itself, Nick, what’s that like?
Well, what shape will it be?
Well, they’re going to use, you know, all the standard avenues of attack.
So I think people will attack the supply chain again.
I believe bad actors are looking for vulnerabilities.
I think we will probably start to see some national level activity.
Yeah, and it’s going to find its way into these environments through, you know, less sophisticated means but also more sophisticated means.
And as I said, we believe that AI will present new opportunities for bad actors and even new attack vectors as an attack surface in itself.
Yeah, and all of this presents huge opportunities for bad actors in the context of this huge global stage.
This means that the people involved in the game, because they are involved in the production of the game, need to be mindful and do what is necessary to be protected as an organization.
Nick, you mentioned AI there.
So, we can probably expect actors to use AI.
But on the other hand, will cybersecurity practitioners also be expected to integrate and deploy AI defensively?
Well, I think we’re going to see AI being used both ways.
The good news is that it can be used defensively.
The bad news is that it can be used offensively.
Well, I think there’s a healthy balance there.
II At this point, I think the breadth of the ability to use AI in a negative way slightly outweighs the benefits of proactive responses around AI, but that doesn’t discount all the blocking and tackling an organization can do.
Uh, it’s more of a standard thing, cybersecurity hygiene, and it really helps prevent serious incidents. Nick Ter, great discussion, really interesting topic.
Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us today.
appreciate.
thank you.