Mission Ready: Rethinking Risks at High-Profile Events

Major, globally visible events—such as the World Cup or Olympic Games—fundamentally change how cyber-physical risk must be identified and prioritized. Events such as these usually are designated as National Special Security Events (NSSEs), based on factors like national significance, projected attendance, and potential threat levels, with the U.S. Secret Service leading security operations.

Cyber-physical risk is the potential for cyberattacks on networked systems—such as IoT devices, industrial control systems, or medical equipment—to cause real-world damage, including physical injury, environmental catastrophes, or destruction of infrastructure. These risks occur at the intersection of digital, networked software and physical, mechanical processes. NSSEs increase the potential for attacks on such devices as credential readers, environmental control systems (heating, cooling, and water), and hospitals near the events.

Join us as thought leaders from government and industry discuss how organizations can prepare to support a major event by identifying, quantifying, and prioritizing cyber-physical risks pertaining to operational technologies (OT) deployed for the event.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the distinct risks to OT in major event environments, especially when systems are temporary, shared across public and private owners, or rapidly deployed
• Identify which OT-related threats or vulnerabilities tend to have the most significant downstream or cascading impacts, and which are most often underestimated during planning
• Learn how to assess and model cyber-physical risk across interconnected systems, such as venues, transportation, and broadcast infrastructure
• Delineate what effective integration between cybersecurity, physical security, and operational stakeholders looks like in practice – and where it breaks down most often