On the Security of Event Apps

 For the current Olympics it has been  pointed out that participants were required to install an event written and approved  App on their phones to link to activities.    But it has also been pointed to danger of security leaks, especially regarding the definition of private vs public vs group data.  The event indicated that this data was in part to track pandemic transmission.

Podcast:  https://twit.tv/shows/security-now/episodes/857?autostart=false 

Security News (Steve Gibson writes) 

China's Olympics: Leave your tech at home

Last Tuesday, the US FBI warned that visitors to this year's Olympic Games being hosted in Beijing, China would be well advised to leave any fancy electronics at home. Grab an inexpensive “burner” phone that can be broken into pieces once you've returned to your local airport. In other words, the advice about traveling to China is similar to the traditional advice for attending the annual BlackHat and DefCon conferences in Las Vegas: Be afraid. Be very afraid.

The FBI didn’t mention any specific threats. But they didn't need to because it has become understood that “malicious cyber actors could use a broad range of cyber activities to disrupt these events.” There is just a tremendous amount of malicious cyber activity occurring during these events. Recall that the Tokyo Summer Olympics was a similar mess with athletes and attendees’ personal phones being targeted, the Games’ TV broadcasts being disrupted, and the personal data of volunteers and ticket purchasers for the Tokyo Olympics being leaked online. The Olympics are high profile and this makes everything happening there a target.

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Japan Hacks its own Population to Promote Security

In preparation for olympics to promote security.  Or will it just guide black hats to the best places to go?
 
Japan plans to hack into millions of its citizens’ connected devices  In Technology Review

The Japanese government will try to hack into internet-connected devices in homes and offices around the country starting from next month, as part of efforts to improve cyber security, NHK World-Japan reports.

First of its kind: The program, which could last for up to five years, was approved on Friday. It will be conducted by Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT). From mid-February, the institute will use default passwords and password dictionaries to try to break into about 200 million devices, starting with webcams and routers. When they successfully gain access to a device, the owner will be contacted and advised to improve security measures.  ... " 

VR at the Olympics

While listening to the opening ceremonies of the 2018 Winter Olympics.  I noted the statement that some of the things being seen on my 2 dimensional screen had been projected there from a VR model, and may (or may not) have been visible live.   Which makes you think about the accuracy of what you see. 

(Update) More on Camera Tech and VR used at Olympics, via VRFocus.

This made me look more closely at what choices exist for watching the Olympics in VR.    Here they are from the Intel site,  these range from goggles to smartphones,  from very low to no-cost to expensive.   From complete immersive experiences to alternate views from 3D perspectives.  Instructive if you are exploring as I am.

Massive Drone Swarms for Entertainment

The massive use of drones at the Superbowl and Korean Opening of the Winter Olympics show the  impressive use of multiple drone swarms for art and imply their future use for business and military applications.  Clearly to be seen much more in the years to come.  Intel's involvement of interest.  It was noted that logistic issues required the prerecording for broadcast.  First I had seen the use of the word 'murmuration' with drones, which usually apply to large swarms of birds.

Intel put on an Olympic light show with 1,218 drones
The display was a pre-recorded show for the Olympic opening ceremony.
By Mallory Locklear  in Engadget

The Winter Olympics' opening ceremony took place today in Pyeongchang and it featured a light show from a record-breaking 1,218 drones, Wired reports. The display was created with Intel's Shooting Star drones, the same ones used in Lady Gaga's Super Bowl halftime show last year and Intel's CES keynote in January, and featured drone murmurations that depicted images like a snowboarder and the interlocking Olympic rings..... "