The IT security team predicts there will be millions of filtered ‘events’ – any abnormal computer system behavior – during the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing. This would be three times the frequency of computer issues for the Torino Winter Olympics.
Patrick Adiba, Atos Origin’s executive vice president, Olympics and major events, is the man in charge of ensuring these risks are handled, and this vastly complex event is properly project managed. He is responsible for providing strategic direction and executive management of the Atos Origin business unit specializing in Major Events including the Olympic Games from Salt Lake City 2002 and till the 2012 London Games.
As the Olympic Games’ IT integrator, Atos Origin is responsible for designing, building and operating the IT infrastructure.
Not sporting events
The events that will most concern the IT security team, which will be working round the clock during the Games, have nothing to do with the athletes.
“We expect to have about 3 million ‘events’, that is, abnormal IT behavior, a mistake or security breach – during the Games,” Adiba said. “That’s 200,000 plus per day–so we have to make constant decisions, in real time, on the huge volumes of data and what action to take.” (Compare Network Monitoring and Management products)
New and undisclosed intelligent processing methods will be deployed in Beijing to meet these new IT security challenges.
“The key thing what we do in running this Olympic program is risk management from the preparation of the project and during the operation,” he said. “We only do risk management; we try to find the best solution, not always the cheapest and the most sophisticated, but one that does the job with the minimal risk.”
Conservative and cautious
This focus on handling risk means Atos Origin adopts a conservative and cautious approach. (Compare Patch and Vulnerability Management products)
“In the Olympics, the rule is that we change something only when we absolutely need to, and for good reason, because the technology is obsolete, or if we can provide better service,” Adiba said. “We don’t mind using ‘old’ technology if it’s safe.
The Olympics is not where we highlight the latest or newest technology, it’s more a risk analysis event.
He said there is a dedicated team examining what new technologies are available. “They ask questions like ‘are they safe enough?’, ‘is it reliable?’, ‘is it proven in a stressful environment?’ We won’t implement if the risks are too high.”
Atos Origin is focusing on three key IT areas: security architecture, risk management and security operations, to ensure that everything is in place to respond to any potential threat from either within or outside the Games network.
Through extensive testing before the 17-day event, the IT security team is able to understand what constitutes normal activity on applications, servers, PCs and the network, so that an incident can be logged if the traffic becomes abnormal.
Prioritized response
This strategy enables the IT security team to effectively respond to incidents on a prioritized basis, keeping the Games IT infrastructure protected from a wide range of threats that may otherwise compromise critical IT services–including the recording and distribution of competition results.
Security is built into the Games IT infrastructure from the outset and levels of protection include separating the Games network and the Intranet, segmenting the Olympic network into security domains, strict configuration management processes (security mechanisms such as anti-virus software and port security) and the strategic placement of Intrusion Detection Systems.
Atos Origin designed and built two main IT systems, which are now fully operational, to run the Beijing Games. The Information Diffusion System will relay results and athlete information to 10,500 athletes and thousands of media representatives. The Games Management Systems will provide accreditation, transportation and accommodation schedules, medical encounters reports, sports qualifications and protocol information.
Although the Olympics do not start until 8 August, full dress rehearsals have been taking place since August last year. The computing systems supporting the Games are being tested at 42 separate events, including World Cup qualifying matches, the Beijing International Marathon and international tennis events, in an arduous year-long process that will end only weeks before the opening ceremony.
Dress rehearsal
“The tests are, in effect, a full rehearsal for the 2008 Games, to ensure the reliability of the hardware that forms the Games’ computing backbone,” said the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) technology director Yang Yichun.
Because of the unique geographical diversity of the Beijing Games locations, the IT systems will need to be duplicated in seven different cities – Beijing, Hong Kong, Dalian, Qingdao, Tianjin, Qinhuangdao and Shanghai – with systems in place to control all venues remotely.
In the latest Olympic IT milestone, the PC Factory, managed by Atos Origin, has begun operations in Beijing. The PC Factory is the central facility for the configuration and distribution of the Olympic Games IT equipment to the Olympic venues. This marks the final stage of central planning and preparations of IT equipment for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
“The on-time completion of the PC Factory is the result of close cooperation between BOCOG, Atos Origin, and other partners,” said Yang.
Located inside the Olympic Logistics Centre in Shunyi District, northeast Beijing, the PC Factory is responsible for configuration and distribution of all the Games’ IT equipment before it’s dispatched to more than 70 Olympic Games venues.
This equipment includes 10,000 PCs and servers, some 1000 network devices, and more than 2000 printers. “The PC Factory is a critical processing center for all the IT equipment used at the Games,” said Jeremy Hore, chief integrator, Beijing 2008, Atos Origin. “Every single device, and there are thousands, must be properly configured, tested and prepared for deployment at Olympic Games venues.”
Hore is an Australian, and is responsible for consulting, strategic planning, operations management, software development, systems integration, information security, disaster recovery and training.
The Atos Origin 2008 Olympics team will reach several thousands by Games time, comprising partners and volunteers.
Many IT facilities are already operational, including the Technology Operations Centre (TOC), the Integration Lab, the Primary Data Centre and the PC factory. All GMS (Games Management Systems) applications are also in production.
