Olympic Games' police to 'panic' over cybersecurity

The UK's cybersecurity police are ill-equipped to deal with the influx of visitors and attention that will be generated by the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Philip Virgo, secretary general of parliamentary industry group the European Information Society Group, has warned.

Cybersecurity police for the Olympic Games in London are ill-equipped to deal with the influx of visitors, according to Philip Virgo. Photo credit: ODA 2008

Speaking at a Westminster eForum Keynote Seminar on "Skills for the UK Digital Economy" in London on Thursday, Virgo said the UK's cybercrime police do not have the skills and experience required to successfully manage the cybersecurity risks of the Olympics. The Police Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU) was made responsible for policing the cybersecurity of the Olympics in 2009.

"Testing for the systems serving the Olympic venues is underway. The security exercises for London as a whole are due to start in May, but most of those now responsible for the cybersecurity of the UK are new in post and have yet to start thinking of the skills they're going to need in their teams," Virgo said. "They're leaving it late in the day and I expect them to start panicking somewhere in the autumn."

For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see Olympic Games cyber security: Cops not up to the job on silicon.com.