Cyberattacks are inevitable whenever a large-scale international event is held. The World Expo was no exception, having suffered numerous cyberattacks.

In recent years, cyberattacks have been inevitable whenever a large-scale international event is held. For example, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021, saw numerous cyberattacks during the event. It’s said that attacks targeting communication equipment and websites totaled over 10 million.
The World Expo also suffered cyberattacks during its duration. However, they were reportedly less intense than the Olympics.
Morioka analyzes this point: “Although the World Expo lasts a long 184 days, unlike the Olympics, it is not broadcast worldwide on television. Attackers often aim to make their presence known, but the World Expo may not have been their primary target because it’s difficult to do so.”
However, when President Zelenskyy was considering attending the event on August 5th, Ukraine’s National Day, a significant number of cyber attacks originating from Russia were confirmed. The attacks subsided when Zelenskyy’s wife ultimately decided to attend, but security personnel remained vigilant as attacks could suddenly spike.

Mizoguchi Kazuhiro, manager of the Security Governance Division of the Security & Trust Department at NTT West, said, “We keep track of the cyber attack situation, including trends on the dark web, and respond immediately if anything happens. However, there were no frequent, particularly large attacks.”

The company focuses on security measures in its daily operations and did not set up a new system for the Expo. However, because information gathering is important for security measures, during the Expo, the company apparently collected information specifically for the Expo, including from the dark web.

NTT West, which supported the successful Expo, will put the knowledge it gained through the Expo to good use in the future. Morioka said, “International events will continue to be held, so we would like to utilize our know-how in these situations. For example, in 2027 the World Masters Games, which will be attended by athletes over the age of 30, will be held in Kansai. In addition, the International Horticultural Exposition (Flower Expo) will be held in Yokohama in 2027, so we would like to share our know-how with NTT East Japan”.

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