As I am sure everyone is aware, this is another year for the second most watched sporting event in the world (next to the World Cup). That’s right, this summer Athens, Greece will play host to the 2004 Olympic Summer Games. But this post is not about who the best runner is, or who will win the 100m, or even if banning athletes who pass drug tests but who are believed to be taking supplements is correct or not. No, this post is about something that I think is a little more serious – security.
Why security? It’s more important now than ever. In a lot of ways, the software development world has been a good reflection of the world at large with regards to security in the last few years. Never before has so much attention been paid to or money spent on security in computing, and the same could be said for life in general. Just as Microsoft moved funds from future products into security, airports and public venues around the world have moved money from expansion into security. And there is no end in sight.
So you’re probably wondering now why I started talking technospeak in a post that is about the Olympics, aren’t you? Well I am a geek, what can I say. But the real reason is that the computer industry provides excellent examples to illustrate problems that I fear are becoming a reality in Athens.
In April of this year, Paul Watson, a security specialist for Rockwell Automation, discovered (or as he put it, “pulled the pieces together regarding”) a flaw in the Transmission Control Protocol, or TCP. For the non-geeks out there, this is basically the plumbing that makes the Internet work. A serious flaw in TCP (a technology well beyond fifteen years old) could potentially bring the Internet crashing down – the very thing it was invented to protect against. Fortunately, Watson announced at a Vancouver security conference that the flaw has largely been addressed by the major ISPs and that the threat to the Internet was minimal at best. Since then, we haven’t heard a thing about it.
How does this relate to Athens? The flaw in TCP is a flaw in the infrastructure of the Internet. Take out the infrastructure that holds it together, and you take out the Internet. That is what I think is happening in Athens – a major security flaw in the infrastructure of the Olympic games, just waiting to be exploited.
What should be one of the grandest Olympics of all time has been off to a very rocky start. Unlike past Olympics where preparations have been completed months in advance, construction has been horribly behind schedule (especially of roads and other important infrastructure), IT security packages have been delayed, and the only people completely unconcerned about security are the Greek people themselves. And I know there are two sides to every story – soldiers have been trained how to deal with chemical, biological and nuclear attacks, and the security budget for Athens has far surpassed $1.2 billion USD. But my fear is not that someone is going to drop a nuclear weapon on Athens. My fear is that the terrorists have already, or are in the process of, planting their weapons of choice by exploiting the pathetic infrastructure. If terrorists can masquerade as pilots, and plan attacks against trains, what makes you think they haven’t already done something in Athens?
If you rush a software project, it inevitably has holes. If you rush baking your cake, it probably won’t rise or taste as great as it could otherwise have. If you rush in the morning because you’ve started late, you get a speeding ticket if you’re lucky enough to avoid an accident. See a common theme? Rushing to complete construction for the August 13th (which is a Friday by the way) start is bad enough. Delaying security software packages and components? That’s just stupid. All software needs to be tested. Delaying that until the last minute is an invitation to terrorists to render you dumb, deaf and blind before they attack.
Imagine what would have happened if malicious users had figured out the flaw in TCP long before the “good guys” did and were able to exploit it. The Internet as we know may have ceased to exist for at least an insufferable amount of time (keep in mind almost all of modern business is built around the Internet). Now imagine if terrorists were able to exploit the problems in Athens (or imagine they already have and are just waiting for the event to strike). Not only would millions of people be at risk or losing their lives, but the world at large would effectively be imprisoned.
If a terrorist attack on Athens is successful, I am willing to bet there will not be another large event of any kind for quite some time. World security was shattered after 9/11, and if something happens at Athens, I think it would be shattered and stomped on. Ignoring for a second the people who would be impacted, think about the money spent so far. The millions of dollars spent on airport security. The millions of dollars spent on arming embassies around the world. The list goes on. Sooner or later you have to ask yourself, was it worth it? What did we accomplish?
I hope that the 2004 Olympics will be the best ever and that my fears are not realized. I know I will be watching along with the rest of the world, hopefully enjoying a competitive sporting event. Will my wish for a safe summer games come true? I am not so sure…but here’s to hoping for another TCP flaw anyway.
MasterMaq's Blog 
I agree with your points and hopes totally. This is something that I had planned to write about as the games got closer so you beat me to the draw. I hope that the games go off without a hitch and the only worries are from the athletes preparing for their event. I too fear that we are going to get some sort of 9/11 or Madrid train station again. The other thing that we have to watch out for first is the Euro 2004 championships. It runs in Portugal from June 12 to early July. With Portugal’s close proximity to Spain this is the worlds first worry. If something happens here we might not even get to Athens.
While I agree with your points, I feel that an attack at the Olympics is less likely despite it being a more vulnerable target. A terrorist act at the Olympics in my opinion would be counter productive to their goals. Such an attack would be an attack on many nations and would likely cause us to unify together to fight terrorism. We have heard many claims that "Nobody is safe from terrorism" but looking back at recent events, terrorist activities have been associated with those who have participated in the "coalition of the willing". The train bombing was directed specifically at Spain to scare them into submission. The 9/11 event was a rebuttal against U.S. Foreign Policies. An unprovoked attack against a nation might have an opposite effect of the attack on Spain. It would seem highly illogical for terrorists to choose the Olympics to stage an attack. But then again, this is their chance to demonstrate their might in a much bigger international spotlight. Regardless, I still share your concerns on the security of Athens. However, I would like to point out that not all last minute projects end up in catastrophy – take for example, our CMPUT 391 project 😉
Good point on Euro2004 Dad, we’ll have to keep an eye on that.
I stand corrected about the last minute projects Dickson, 391 was a huge success given the time!
I think its safe to say many nations are already unified to fight terrorism, so I dont think an attack on Athens would have the effect you describe. And if recent video tapes and interviews with Al Qaeda operatives are any indication, an attack would not be unprovoked. They see friends of the United States as their enemies, and thats justification enough for them to strike.
hellooo, did no one read Rainbow Six? someone will take care of it rest assured
I think that if there were specific athletes (the Irsaelis) targeted in Montreal, then there could easily be an attack on the Americans, regardless of the infrastructure of the Games. As I said yesterday, I think the American team should stay home, because then at least those terrorists who have directed their energies towards the American team will not necessarily strike out at other nations. i mean, wouldn’t it be a creepy coincidence if the american athletes village was ruined, but no others? it would be far to risky to attempt something against one nation, because there are SO many others around, so I don’t think anything will happen. I know what you’re saying about the coalition of the willing, but you have to remember that there are many nations who did not join the coalition, but are not seen as allies by the terrorist organizations. Take Canada for example; sure we’ve had some breaches of securtiy regarding suspected terrorists, but we’ve tried very hard to keep them out of our country and that doesnt exactly put us in good favour with Al-Qaeda. I dunno. I hope nothing bad happens, but if it does, I’m sure the American government will have a solution to the problem…lol. 🙂