With the Tokyo Olympics on the horizon, we thought it would be incredibly interesting to explore the ways in which cyber security can impact athletes and the world of sports. 2x Olympic gold medal decathlete Ashton Eaton joins us for today’s episode of Cyber Security Inside to offer his point of view.
We cover:
Some of the specific security risks associated with big sporting events like the Olympics
Who might be interested in tampering with data, and why
Eaton’s career trajectory and how he wound up a decathlete
What a typical day might look like for an Olympic athlete in competition, from training to walking around the Olympic Village
What advice he’d give to the Tokyo Organizing Committee for this summer’s upcoming Olympic Games
...and more.
Be sure to tune in pre-Olympics for some great insider insight!
The views and opinions expressed are those of the guests and author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Intel Corporation.
Here are some key take-aways:
Security is increasingly becoming a topic of interest in the sports world; as more and more athletes track their biometrics digitally, there is more risk for cyber attacks related to sensitive performance-related information.
There is growing concern that individuals or even governments of certain countries might tamper with results to benefit themselves.
Even things like blood panels and urine sample results from anti-doping tests could theoretically be exploited by hackers.
In addition to sufficient security, logistical efficiency and reliable, timely transportation play a key role for athletes in the Olympics, and it’s important for organizers to get those things right.
Some interesting quotes from today’s episode:
“You have to think, Well, what kind of information is being collated specifically for this event? And what could happen that could be nefarious or bad, necessarily?”
“At the individual athlete level, you have everything from the data you're generating about your performance to perhaps your physiology--something as simple as notes from your physical therapist on your physical state to maybe some kind of app you're using to track your training, whether it be your times or whatnot, to a blood panel that you've taken to kind of assess your fitness.”
“I was thinking, I have no clue who has access to my stuff. As athletes gather more information on themselves, whether it be video or whether it be spreadsheets of information, whether it's their times or their nutrition or whatever it is, I think it's an increasing concern.”
“What would be more impactful is if you did have access to data from your competitors that basically showed that they were cheating in some way, shape or form.”
“Tampering with the event itself is becoming probably more of a security issue. Anything from timing, right? I mean, you look at something like swimming - oftentimes those world records or those races, when that hand presses that little thing underneath the water there, there are like hundredths of a second. How simple would it be for somebody with means to be able to just switch that sucker around?”
“I think the absolute key to make things successful from an athlete's perspective is logistical efficiency.”