The Olympic Games stand as a testament to human achievement, unity, and resilience. But with their global spotlight comes a hidden battleground—a stage where adversaries exploit the convergence of interconnected infrastructures, advanced technologies, and billions of viewers.
As Los Angeles prepares for 2028 and Salt Lake anticipates 2034, these host cities are not just organizing events; they are preparing to defend against adversarial threats that could cripple systems, erode trust, and leave lasting reputational damage. Silicon Valley and Silicon Slopes, as global hubs of innovation, bear a unique responsibility to ensure these Games are not only triumphant but also secure.
This is your moment. This is your call to action.
The Olympic Stage: A Beacon for Adversaries
The Olympics are more than a global celebration; they are a convergence of complexity, innovation, and high stakes—making them irresistible targets for adversaries. These events bring together cutting-edge technology, critical infrastructure, and global attention, creating a perfect storm of vulnerabilities.
The Multifaceted Nature of Olympic Risk
- Digital Infrastructure Under Siege: From IoT-enabled smart venues to cloud-hosted ticketing systems, adversaries exploit every point of connectivity. For example:
- Smart Traffic Systems: Hacked stoplights could paralyze city movement, delaying athletes, officials, and spectators.
- Ticketing Platforms: Ransomware attacks targeting online ticketing could prevent access to venues, disrupting events and creating chaos.
- Adversaries’ Goals Beyond Disruption: The motivations are as diverse as the actors themselves:
- Nation-States: Seek to project power and undermine rivals through large-scale cyberattacks.
- Hacktivists: Leverage the global spotlight to draw attention to their causes.
- Cybercriminals: Aim to exploit vulnerabilities for financial gain, often targeting high-value sponsors, attendees, and officials.
Historical Precedents of Adversarial Exploitation
- Pyeongchang 2018: The “Olympic Destroyer” malware disabled Wi-Fi, ticketing systems, and Olympic operations, demonstrating how quickly adversaries can exploit even well-prepared events.
- London 2012: A series of phishing campaigns targeted Olympic contractors, exposing sensitive data and undermining confidence in digital communications.
These examples reveal the evolving tactics of adversaries who view the Olympics as a proving ground for their capabilities.
The Broader Consequences
The stakes extend beyond the Games themselves. A successful attack could:
- Destabilize Critical Infrastructure: Paralysis of transportation, utilities, or communication systems could cascade into broader regional disruptions.
- Erode Public Trust: Attendees and global audiences losing confidence in host cities’ ability to manage crises.
- Tarnish Reputations: For Los Angeles and Salt Lake—regions synonymous with innovation—failure could leave a lasting mark on their identities as technology leaders.
In this high-stakes environment, the question is not if adversaries will attempt to exploit vulnerabilities but how host cities and their partners can outmaneuver them.
Invisible Resilience: The Foundation for Modern Olympic Security
To secure LA 2028 and Salt Lake 2034, host cities must adopt a framework of invisible resilience—systems that protect seamlessly, autonomously, and without requiring user intervention.
Core Principles
- Default-Secure Systems: Public Wi-Fi and ticketing platforms that isolate high-risk activity without user input.
- Dynamic Defenses: AI-driven systems that detect and neutralize threats in real time, adapting to emerging adversarial tactics.
- Silent Protections: Measures like automated software updates, geofencing, and network segmentation that operate invisibly to the user.
Silicon Valley: Innovating for Los Angeles 2028
As a global center for technological innovation, Silicon Valley has the expertise, talent, and influence to lead the charge in securing LA 2028. Its proximity to Los Angeles creates opportunities for collaboration between tech giants, startups, and municipal leaders.
Key Innovators
- Google: With its advances in AI and cloud infrastructure, Google can spearhead real-time anomaly detection systems for transportation and ticketing networks.
- Cisco: As a leader in networking and security, Cisco can ensure resilient, scalable communications infrastructure critical for Olympic operations.
- Palantir Technologies: Palantir’s expertise in data integration and analysis can provide predictive models for risk management and threat mitigation.
- NVIDIA: Known for its leadership in AI and edge computing, NVIDIA can power predictive analytics for crowd and traffic management.
Key Leader: Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google
As a pioneer of AI and cloud innovation, Sundar Pichai embodies Silicon Valley’s potential to create resilient, adaptive systems for global events. His leadership can guide cross-company collaborations to secure Los Angeles as a model for smart city safety.
Opportunities for Impact
- AI-Powered Security: Deploy machine learning models capable of identifying potential threats in real time.
- Cloud Resilience: Use distributed cloud systems to ensure data redundancy and continuity under stress.
- Autonomous Infrastructure: Collaborate with LA planners to integrate autonomous traffic management systems for smoother event logistics.
Silicon Slopes: Pioneering Resilience for Salt Lake 2034
Silicon Slopes, Utah’s burgeoning tech ecosystem, is home to companies and leaders poised to address the unique challenges of hosting the Olympics. Their proximity to Salt Lake City and expertise in critical infrastructure make them ideal partners for creating resilient systems.
Key Innovators
- Qualtrics: As a leader in experience management, Qualtrics can monitor public sentiment during emergencies, ensuring transparency and trust.
- Vivint: With expertise in smart home and IoT security, Vivint can protect interconnected Olympic systems, from surveillance to utilities.
- Pluralsight: Pluralsight can design scalable training programs to educate volunteers, city officials, and communities on cybersecurity best practices.
- Domo: Through its real-time business intelligence tools, Domo can create dashboards for city planners and security teams to monitor operations and threats.
Key Leader: Ryan Smith, Co-Founder of Qualtrics
Ryan Smith, with his proven track record of scaling innovation, can champion collaboration between Silicon Slopes companies to ensure Salt Lake 2034 sets a global standard for resilience and community-driven cybersecurity.
Opportunities for Impact
- IoT Resilience: Develop protocols to secure devices integral to transportation, utilities, and public safety.
- Community Cybersecurity Training: Partner with state and local governments to design accessible training programs for volunteers and residents.
- Behavioral Engineering: Create systems that subtly guide users toward secure practices, like automated credential management.
The Responsibility to Act: A Shared Vision
For Silicon Valley and Silicon Slopes
The Games present an opportunity to demonstrate global leadership in cybersecurity. This is a chance to prove that innovation can outpace adversity, that resilience can be a cornerstone of modern cities, and that global events can be safeguarded by the regions that define the cutting edge.
How to Get Involved
- Tech Innovators: Partner with host city planners to develop and test scalable solutions for Olympic-scale challenges.
- Policy Makers: Draft forward-looking frameworks that prioritize cybersecurity in event planning and urban design.
- Educators: Create accessible training programs that empower citizens, volunteers, and local businesses to contribute to resilience.
Conclusion: Leading the Future of Resilience
The Olympic Games are more than a global celebration; they are a proving ground for the resilience of cities, industries, and nations. For Silicon Valley and Silicon Slopes, they are not just an opportunity but a mandate to lead—a chance to set a new global standard for security, innovation, and collaboration.
The legacy of these Games will not be written solely by the athletes or the grandeur of the events, but by the visionaries who dared to secure the future before the spotlight fell. Los Angeles and Salt Lake are poised to rise, but their success depends on those who act now to outpace the adversaries waiting in the shadows.
The question isn’t whether we can rise to meet this challenge; the question is whether we’ll seize the moment to create a future where resilience is so seamless, threats never have a chance to surface. This is your call to lead. Will you answer?