In recent days, the XXIX Summer Olympic Games were inaugurated in front of 91,000 people at the National Stadium, one of the most secured and protected events in the history of the world due to the fears that arose since the Munich Olympic Games in 1972 and the attacks of September 11 in the United States. Beijing has become not only the city of sportsmen and the great spectacle, but also the city of surveillance along with Xinjiang province.
Comprehensive checks have also been carried out at airports. Interpol provided Beijing airport and others on the border with access codes to its database of more than 14 million flights or lost documents. The city's taxi fleet has two small microphones camouflaged in 70,000 taxis and if they are in trouble they just press a key on the taximeter and send a satellite signal in order to locate the vehicle, listen to the conversation and stop the action.
It is estimated that the security that has been deployed in Beijing cost $300 million (€193 million).
High security measures in China increased after the death of 16 police officers in an attack, where the Xinjiang Public Security Administration reported that two people aged 28 and 33, neighbors of Kashgar, site of the attack, were arrested and found with a homemade pistol and nine explosives.
However, the organizers of the Olympic Games ensure that athletes and visitors will have safe and peaceful games: public buses will be guarded and travelers will be registered if deemed necessary. But the attacks for the Olympics have not been limited to physical actions, cybercriminals have sneaked in and found that these Games are good business, especially for phishers.
The Association of Internet Users reported some flaws in the security of the official website, additionally some hackers have created a website with an address greatly similar to the official address simulating the sale of tickets for the shows. Visitors had to call a phone number to get the site's entry code, which may have provided another stream of income for the phishers.
The company Websense stressed that this site goes beyond those already known, because it used a verification step that convinced users, making the level of interactivity high and the public fall into the trap. Once the user was asked for the credit card, he asked for a relatively low sum for the entrance, of approximately 87 dollars. This website has already been blocked and the authorities are investigating it.
The security errors found on the official site are not serious, but they make it easier for malicious people to manipulate statistics and classifications as explained by Víctor Domingo, president of the Association of Internet Users.
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