Tokyo Olympics: Japan to take steps to guard against cyberattacks

Tokyo Olympics: Japan to take steps to guard against cyberattacks

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Tokyo

Japan said on Tuesday that it would take measures to ensure that next year’s Tokyo Olympic Games won’t be affected by cyberattacks after Great Britain and the United States accused Russia of making efforts to disrupt the games. The two countries had, on Monday, condemned a series of malicious cyberattacks that they claimed were being orchestrated by Russian military intelligence which included attempts to disrupt the Olympics and Paralympics.

Olympics organizers reported no significant impact on their operations for the 2020 Games, which were postponed until next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Russia also denied any efforts made to impact the games.

‘Can’t turn a blind eye to malicious attacks’ – Japan

Japanese chief cabinet secretary Katsunobu Kato

Japanese chief cabinet secretary Katsunobu Kato said Japan would make every effort to protect the Games from possible hacking attempts. “We cannot turn a blind eye to malicious cyberattacks that threaten democracy,” Kato told a news conference in Japan and added that they were gathering and analyzing information from Britain and USA. “The Olympics are a major international event that attract attention, and cybersecurity measures are extremely important,” he added.

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The organising committee said in a statement they had already made extensive cybersecurity preparations and that there had been little to no disruption to its platforms. “While we have constantly monitored various types of cyberattack on the digital platforms owned by Tokyo 2020, no significant impact has been observed in our operations,” spokesman Masa Takaya said.

An International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesman said cybersecurity was one of their priorities. “The IOC and the Organising Committees of the Olympic Games have identified cyber security as a priority area and invest a lot to offer the Olympic Games the best cyber security environment possible,” the spokesman told Reuters in an email. “Given the nature of the topic, we do not divulge those measures,” he added.

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