FBI Warns US Athletes of Malicious Cyber Activities During 2022 Olympics, Asks to Use Temporary Phones: Report

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has asked the US athletes to keep their personal cell phones at home and use burner phones during the upcoming 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, giving a clear warning of possible malicious cyber activities during the Games, according to Sputnik.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Tuesday said in a statement that the FBI calls on US Olympic athletes to keep their personal cell phones at home and use burner phones during the upcoming 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.

“The FBI urges all athletes to keep their personal cell phone at home and use a temporary phone while attending the events,” the CISA said in the statement.

Malicious cyber actors could use a broad range of cyber activities to disrupt the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, warned the FBI.

“These activities include distributed denial-of-service attacks, ransomware, malware, social engineering, data theft or leaks, phishing campaigns, disinformation campaigns, and insider threats,” the CISA said in the statement.

It came as the human rights activists have made claims that Beijing is silencing critics domestically ahead of the Winter Olympics and using arbitrary ways such as not letting activists leave their houses and putting them behind bars ahead of the Olympics. The move aims to prevent any protests, criticism, or condemnation of China related to human rights violations or others during the Beijing Winter Olympics.