Don’t get caught in the cybercrime scrum at Rugby World Cup

THE Rugby World Cup in Japan is the biggest and most tech-enabled event the world has witnessed.

Since September 20, 1.8 million tickets would have changed hands and 400 000 rugby fans have descended on the Land of the Rising Sun to watch their teams scrum, tackle and drop-kick their way to victory. In 2015, there were more than 270 million social media video views, 2.8 million official app downloads, and the #RWC2015 hashtag appeared twice a second. Expect records to be broken again this year as cybercriminals get match fit to breach security defences.

To avoid falling victim to cybercrime: Limit public wi-fi use or use a private network or virtual private network (VPN) with data encryption capabilities.

Ensure devices have the latest operating system identified the Internet of Things as a major sporting event risk. Also, thingbots (such as Mirai) are being harnessed by hackers in greater numbers than ever to form powerful botnets of networked things.

Japan knows the score. This year, its National Institute of Information and Communications Technology planned a sweep of about 200 million devices to check for vulnerabilities in routers, webcams and home appliances.

It will be intriguing to monitor cybercriminal activity at the event. By all accounts, Japan is well prepared, and the tournament could yield the protective blueprint for future events of this scale.

Dropping the ball is not an option, especially with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on the horizon. |

and patches installed. Question messages with links or attachments; a trusted brand wouldn’t immediately ask for personal data or financial information. Use trusted websites with the HTTPS prefix and avoid search engine-assisted ecommerce. Spelling mistakes and design flaws are obvious warning signs, but they are getting harder to spot. In March last year, an Interpol conference