With the summer sports season almost over, it’s time to look back on not only the great sporting achievements we’ve seen but also to realise the broad array of adversarial threats possible at large-scale sporting events.
This year alone we’ve seen a phishing attempt on Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and a coordinated attack on the French high-speed rail hours before the opening of the Olympic Games. Protection then, is necessary.
With hackers having already targeted the official Olympics mobile application with phishing attempts and attacks expected on the Paralympics, it’s time for organisers of these events to realise the impact of a successful attack and mitigate accordingly. Just think how many people, devices, data, credentials and money could be affected by vulnerabilities and potential fraud.
Stopping threats in their tracks
Identity verification is a critical component in ensuring the physical and digital security of events and the many devices operating within them. As large-scale events, such as the Olympics and Paralympics, become more digitised in the way they ticket and communicate with fans, traditional perimeter-based security models are no longer sufficient – especially true with the rise of sophisticated identity fraud techniques.
By putting more stringent identity verification standards in place, sporting bodies can safeguard financial transactions by not allowing transactions on tickets, prevent sponsorships and merchandise from being intercepted or manipulated by threat actors through unauthorised access, and stop fraud by ensuring only verified individuals can purchase tickets and access event platforms.
Despite the benefits of stronger identity verification being clear, our own research found that 97% of organisations experience challenges with identity verification, with 48% of respondents saying they are not effectively managing today’s security and identity risks. It’s a finding that rings true into the sport industry despite sporting bodies being unable to afford cybercriminals successfully targeting their events.
What’s at stake?
In an era where connectivity intertwines with everything – from booking tickets, communication and logistics – the stakes have never been higher for safeguarding large scale events. In fact, identity security can help protect:
Enhancing the fan experience
Whether purchasing tickets online, engaging in forums, or participating in digital interactions, fans and athletes benefit from knowing their identities, personal information, and their money are protected. The more fans trust they are able to safely and comfortably attend tournaments means more engagement and more purchases.
Focus on performance
Strong identity security might leave fans safe in the knowledge their data is safe, but this reassurance also extends to athletes. Competitive manipulation can be linked to unauthorised access. Preventing this and ensuring fair play means athletes can focus solely on their performance knowing their competition is impartial and their competitors don’t have an unfair advantage even if a cyberattack is launched.
Legitimate customers and revenues
Security is core to the financial viability of sporting events. It improves ticket sales and revenue protection by ensuring tickets go to legitimate customers (thus reducing the risk of ticket fraud) and means revenue goes straight to event organisers, not fraudsters. This is vital given ticket sales are a primary revenue stream.
Retaining sponsorship deals
With events relying heavily on brand sponsorship, integrity is everything. Any security breach can damage an event’s reputation as well as that of any sponsor associated with it. As such, stopping and preventing attacks allows event organisers to maintain trust while securing and retaining sponsorship deals.
Celebrating securely
As we look to a winter of great sport, the threat of criminal activity looms and event organisers need to remain vigilant. In and around the stadium, the hyper-connected digital infrastructure of sporting events is made vulnerable to a range of cyberattacks due to the increasing sophistication of adversarial tactics. Fans, athletes, organisers and their devices, data, and credentials are all at risk, therefore reliable identity verification safeguards are required to retain the essence of the sporting spirit and uphold the values of honesty and fairness.
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