"Beijing Olympic Athletes, Do Not Use Personal Phones," Warns US FBI

Olympic sculptures installed near the Beijing National Stadium on the morning of the 2nd, two days before the opening of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has advised its national team participating in the Beijing Winter Olympics to refrain from using personal mobile phones due to cybersecurity concerns.

According to CNN on the 1st (local time), the FBI announced, "During the Olympic Games, all American athletes are advised to use temporary phones instead of personal mobile phones," adding, "Some Western countries' Olympic committees have also conveyed similar messages to their athletes due to cybersecurity concerns."

Previously, U.S. intelligence agencies have long warned that American officials, businesspeople, and academics visiting China face risks of having their personal devices such as mobile phones hacked.

The FBI's recent warning appears amid heightened concerns within U.S. intelligence about Chinese espionage activities and intellectual property theft.

It is reported that the FBI is currently investigating around 2,000 cases suspected of Chinese attempts to steal U.S. technological information.

The FBI emphasized, "While we are not aware of specific types of cyber threats related to the Olympics, it is important for athletes participating in the Games to remain vigilant in network and digital environments."

Cybersecurity concerns ahead of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics have been consistently raised by some Western countries. The United Kingdom and the Netherlands have also decided to provide temporary phones to their Olympic team members participating in the Beijing Winter Olympics.

To track movements due to COVID-19, Olympic athletes are required to download an app called 'MY2022,' which has been identified as having potential risks.

The FBI pointed out that this app, like other programs used as digital wallets, may be exposed to potential security risks.

Earlier, on the 19th of last month, the Citizen Lab research team at the University of Toronto in Canada released a report highlighting the security vulnerabilities of the 'MY2022' app.

The research team noted that the app's certificate failed to validate the recipient of encrypted data, making it unclear who might receive sensitive data such as personal medical information.

They also warned that some of the data collected by the app may fail to be encrypted. The team interpreted this as possibly intentional to facilitate easier censorship by authorities.

On the other hand, the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee responded to the 'MY2022' controversy by stating, "This app is necessary for quarantine measures, and a similar app was used during the Tokyo Olympics," adding, "It has also undergone reviews by overseas mobile app markets such as Google, Apple, and Samsung."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.