{"id":78288,"date":"2025-07-08T09:33:49","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T06:33:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gulftech-news.com\/en\/?p=78288"},"modified":"2025-07-08T09:33:49","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T06:33:49","slug":"one-year-until-kick-off-securing-the-2026-football-world-championships-netscout-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gulftech-news.com\/en\/2025\/07\/08\/one-year-until-kick-off-securing-the-2026-football-world-championships-netscout-comments\/","title":{"rendered":"ONE YEAR UNTIL KICK-OFF: SECURING THE 2026 FOOTBALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS \u2013 NETSCOUT COMMENTS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This time next year, the eyes of the world will be fixed on the Football World Championships. Anticipation is already building ahead of the 23<sup>rd<\/sup> edition of the sporting event, as the promise of the grandest iteration of the tournament yet \u2013 more than 100 games are taking place across the U.S., Canada and Mexico over just 39 days \u2013 captures global attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, with the increased size and scale of next year\u2019s tournament comes complex cybersecurity challenges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Drawing on his experience in helping to defend recent major sporting events*, <strong>Darren Anstee, CTO for security at NETSCOUT<\/strong>, details the cyber threats looming over the tournament, as well as the best practices organisers, sponsors and critical infrastructure providers can follow to avoid disruption:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFrom the 2012 London Summer Games ** to last year\u2019s EURO 2024 in Germany***, threat actors routinely target global sporting events. The scale and visibility of next year\u2019s Football World Championships undeniably makes it a marquee target for cybercriminals, with the tournament\u2019s geographically distributed footprint offering cybercriminals significantly more entry points than any other global sporting events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAmongst the nefarious cyber threats facing the competition are distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. These attacks are a popular weapon among bad actors due to their ability to disrupt both physical and virtual aspects of the event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By attacking critical digital infrastructure \u2013 such as live broadcasts, public safety systems, and venue connectivity \u2013 DDoS attacks can significantly impact spectators and businesses alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEven with the tournament still nearly a year away, threat actors will soon begin their warm-ups, probing the defences of organisers, sponsors and critical infrastructure providers \u2013 especially internet service providers (ISPs) \u2013 to map their capabilities and uncover weaknesses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If previous experiences are anything to go by, we should expect waves of attacks every few months in the lead up to the competition, as attackers undertake reconnaissance and testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTo evade potential disruptions, both in the run-up to and during the competition, organisers must regularly test and update their defences, ensuring their protection systems are truly effective and secure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> This involves analysing past attacks to identify vulnerabilities and anticipate future threats, helping protect critical data and infrastructure. It is also vital for organisations to collaborate and regularly share information, enabling them to enhance their defensive posture and strengthen their security accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWith the Football World Championships kicking off on 11<sup>th<\/sup> June 2026, organisers, sponsors and critical infrastructure providers have just under a year to ensure they\u2019re ready to welcome the world \u2013 bad actors and all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This time next year, the eyes of the world will be fixed on the Football World Championships. Anticipation is already building ahead of the 23rd edition of the sporting event, as the promise of the grandest iteration of the tournament yet \u2013 more than 100 games are taking place across the U.S., Canada and Mexico &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>ONE YEAR UNTIL KICK-OFF: SECURING THE 2026 FOOTBALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS \u2013 NETSCOUT COMMENTS - Gulf Tech News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gulftech-news.com\/en\/2025\/07\/08\/one-year-until-kick-off-securing-the-2026-football-world-championships-netscout-comments\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ONE YEAR UNTIL KICK-OFF: SECURING THE 2026 FOOTBALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS \u2013 NETSCOUT COMMENTS - Gulf Tech News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This time next year, the eyes of the world will be fixed on the Football World Championships. Anticipation is already building ahead of the 23rd edition of the sporting event, as the promise of the grandest iteration of the tournament yet \u2013 more than 100 games are taking place across the U.S., Canada and Mexico &hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gulftech-news.com\/en\/2025\/07\/08\/one-year-until-kick-off-securing-the-2026-football-world-championships-netscout-comments\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gulf Tech News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-08T06:33:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gulftech-news.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Darren-Anstee_Arbor-Networks-HR-scaled.jpg?v=1751956420\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1703\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"bessan helmi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"bessan helmi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gulftech-news.com\/en\/2025\/07\/08\/one-year-until-kick-off-securing-the-2026-football-world-championships-netscout-comments\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gulftech-news.com\/en\/2025\/07\/08\/one-year-until-kick-off-securing-the-2026-football-world-championships-netscout-comments\/\",\"name\":\"ONE YEAR UNTIL KICK-OFF: SECURING THE 2026 FOOTBALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS \u2013 NETSCOUT COMMENTS - 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