Olympic committees advise some athletes to use burner phones at Beijing Games

National Olympic committees in some Western countries are advising their athletes to leave their personal devices at home or use temporary phones due to security issues. cyber security in the Winter Games next month in Beijing.

Many national committees said they will provide their athletes and staff with temporary devices to avoid security risks and combat any surveillance during the Games, which will take place from February 4 to 20 in China.

“Every text message, email, online visit and app access should be assumed to be monitored or compromised,” the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a notice.

He suggested using disposable or rental laptops and phones while athletes are in Beijing or wiping all data from personal devices before and after traveling there. It also recommended that members install virtual private networks (VPNs) on devices before leaving the United States.

Despite the safeguards put in place to protect its systems and data, “there should be no expectation of data security or privacy while operating in China,” it added.

The Canadian Olympic Committee said it has advised members to consider leaving personal devices at home and being more diligent as the Games present “a unique opportunity for cybercrime.”

The Swiss and Swedish committees will also provide new devices to their delegations and have informed them about the cybersecurity measures they can take.

“We also provide athletes with information about the situation in China in cooperation with the Civil Rights Defenders organization, so that athletes can make their own decisions about how to use personal equipment during the Olympic Games,” the Swedish committee said.

However, some other countries are less concerned about cybersecurity issues in Beijing.

The Slovenian and Slovak Olympic committees said they would not offer temporary devices to team members, while Croatia said it would allow its delegation to bring its own devices and Serbia said it did not plan additional cybersecurity measures.