London 2012 Olympics and the Cyber Security Risks That Come with It

It’s clear that an event as important as this year’s London Olympics will witness a few incidents and experts fear that many of them will not take place in real life, but in the cyber world where thousands of users will be looking for tickets, souvenirs, accommodation and other things related to the sporting competition.

Websense experts highlight the fact that all sorts of Olympics scams have already been seen making the rounds on the Web and if the 2008 Beijing Olympics recorded around 12 million cybersecurity incidents each day, this year the number might be much higher.

Internauts are advised to remember a few important things in case they receive emails promising free tickets, lottery winnings or other benefits.

Legitimate organizations will never ask for your credit card details or passwords. They will not request an advance payment in case you win a prize and they will never send out poorly written notifications from email addresses that end in @gmail.com, @yahoo.com, or @hotmail.com.

Such plots aren’t the only concern for the big event. The London 2012 Olympics organizers have issued a number of rules regarding the use of social media during the Games.

Participants and other accredited persons are not allowed to share anything that could be considered a breach of privacy or which could pose a threat. However, there’s a lot of confusion to what exactly can and can’t be shared and by whom.

UK telecom regulator Ofcom expects wireless traffic to increase significantly during the event, but companies such as Websense will be actively involved in controlling the bandwidth consumption.

The government’s representatives also state that they’re prepared to handle anything, from terrorist to cyberattacks.

“We have rightly been preparing for some time--a dedicated unit will help guard the London Olympics against cyberattacks. We are determined to have a safe and secure Games,” said the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude.