Enhancing Olympics Network Security and UX with DDI Solutions: 3 Use Cases

Large sporting events such as the Olympic Games attract millions of spectators, athletes, and media personnel. Robust IT infrastructures are critical for running these events, so need to be highly resilient against network access disruptions, cybersecurity threats, live streaming interruptions, and operational communication failures. For addressing these challenges in order to ensure optimal user experience and strong network security, DDI solutions (DNS-DHCP-IPAM) and DNS security are foundational.

Events Today: Situation & Challenges for Making Them Run Smoothly

When it comes to sporting events, the Paris 2024 Olympic Games promises to be amongst the most prestigious, with an estimated 10,000 athletes representing 206 countries, and 15 million spectators attending. Smooth running of the games relies largely on the underlying IT networks being efficient & secure, as they control critical functions such as ticketing, broadcasting, and all official olympics apps being made available to participants.

With the stakes being so high, potential risks of IT issues include:

• Poor user experience for attendees and participants caused by network access disruptions
• Data/Identity theft from security breaches through DNS Spoofing (DNS cache poisoning) or ransomware
• Ineffective service resilience due to cybersecurity attacks like DDoS
• Undetected malware spread due to ineffective network monitoring & incident response
• Interrupted live streaming and broadcasts
• Operational communication failures caused by IP address conflicts or mismanagement

For preventing and mitigating risks associated with network configuration, management, performance, and security, DDI solutions incorporating DNS Security are fundamental.

The Critical Role of DDI Solutions for Making Events Successful

DDI solutions combined with purpose-built DNS security provide a fundamental role for managing and protecting the complex and large-scale networks required for the successful operation of large events. During the Olympic Games, a robust DNS setup is vital for preventing disruptions by guaranteeing the availability and performance of streaming services, official websites, and real-time information updates. DHCP ensures a smooth user experience by providing seamless network access for spectators, athletes, and media. It does that by dynamically assigning IP addresses to thousands of devices simultaneously connecting and disconnecting to networks. IPAM (IP Address Management) helps organizations manage and monitor the huge number of IP addresses in use during events, enforcing compliance-based allocation, limiting conflicts and misconfigurations, and facilitating fast troubleshooting of network issues. 

DNS security features, such as DNS-centric threat intelligence, threat detection and DNSSEC (DNS Security Extensions), offer holistic protection against DNS-based attacks during the Olympic Games. With 9 out of 10 of malware attacks making use of DNS, implementing purpose-built DNS security is critical for safeguarding critical apps and services, protecting sensitive information, and ensuring the availability and integrity of communications.

EfficientIP DDI Solutions: Tried and Trusted for Stadiums and Events

The EfficientIP SOLIDserver™ solution offers a comprehensive all-in-one technology providing DDI (DNS-DHCP-IPAM), DNS security, network automation and application traffic management. Our Cloud platform delivers next-generation threat intelligence and observability services to strengthen network security and performance. For stadiums and events, SOLIDserver delivers the world’s fastest DNS and multi-vendor DHCP services. This high-performance offers a range of advantages, from improved reliability and scalability to enhanced security and cost efficiency. These benefits collectively ensure that organizations can maintain robust, efficient, and secure network operations during events such as the Olympic Games.

Stadiums like the London Stadium (used for the 2012 Olympics) and the Stade de France (the main venue for Paris 2024 Olympics) make use of high-performance DHCP to cater to mass wi-fi requirements for thousands of spectators. And international competitions including the French Tennis Open (Roland Garros) already benefit from EfficientIP SOLIDserver DDI and DNS Security functionality.

For massive events like the Olympic Games, smart DDI and Protective DNS contribute significantly to network reliability, efficiency, and security. It simplifies network management and enables automation to bring important administration time savings, ensure consistent configurations, and enforce policies for compliance. DDI also boosts network performance and resilience to guarantee optimal customer experience. Lastly, DNS security helps combat cybersecurity threats including phishing, data theft, ransomware and DDoS, contributing to strengthening of overall network security.

Below are three obvious use cases where EfficientIP DDI solutions and DNS Security help smooth running of Olympics networks.

3 Use Cases: EfficientIP DDI Solutions & DNS Security for Events

1: Provide Optimal Customer Experience by Ensuring Reliable Access to Networks, Apps, and Internet

Scenario

During large events like the Olympic Games, thousands of athletes, media personnel, and spectators need fast, reliable network access for work, information, and entertainment apps and services.

Solution

Carrier-grade DDI is mandatory for network resilience and performance: DHCP ensures automatic and seamless IP address assignment to all devices connecting to the network, enabling users to access the internet and necessary applications without manual configuration. DNS resolves domain names quickly to ensure smooth browsing experiences. IPAM keeps track of all assigned addresses to avoid conflicts and ensure efficient network operation.

DDI Observability provides insights into DNS resolution times, success rates, and overall performance metrics. By monitoring these parameters, network administrators can identify, troubleshoot, and address issues such as slow resolution times or high failure rates, which could impact user experience. Quickly knowing where the issue lies helps in optimizing DNS configurations for an optimal user experience when surfing applications and the internet anywhere, anytime.

Top 3 Benefits

• Easily handle mass wi-fi requirements at stadiums
• Limit latency and ensure service/app availability to provide best UX
• Troubleshoot easier

2. Combat Cyberattacks and Phishing with Proactive Threat Detection & Mitigation

Scenario

The high visibility and large-scale infrastructure of the Olympic Games make it a significant risk to cyber threats. London 2012 suffered 212 million cyber attacks, including a DDoS attack disrupting Olympic Park’s power systems. Rio 2016 had 50 million cyber attacks, such as Fancy Bear (APT28) revealing athletes’ private medical data. And as part of Tokyo 2020’s 450 million cyber threats, phishing scams were selling fake “Official Olympic Games Tokens”​.

Considering today’s ever-evolving cybersecurity threat landscape, security teams need to be well prepared to mitigate risk for Paris 2024. A newly created SOC will make use of AI-based tools to detect signs of suspicious or malicious activity, track signs of compromise, and orchestrate incident response. But one thing often overlooked is protection of DNS. 91% of malware use DNS, causing serious consequences for events like the Olympics, ranging from data breaches, financial losses, and reputational damage. For proactive threat detection and mitigation, DNS-centric security is therefore crucial.

Solution

AI-driven DNS Threat Intelligence leverages real-time threat data to identify malicious domains and IP addresses which are then blocked by DNS Guardian before they can impact the network. By integrating threat intelligence feeds with DNS security tools, the Olympic Games’ IT security teams can proactively detect and mitigate threats.This proactive approach, combined with DNSSEC functionality, helps safeguard sensitive data, maintain the integrity of digital services, and ensure a secure environment for all event participants.

For specifically protecting against phishing, Protective DNS is indispensable, incorporating dynamic filtering, machine learning, and real-time intelligence. User Behavior Analytics (UBA) leveraging patented in-depth understanding of DNS traffic enhances threat detection well beyond known attack patterns. Adaptive countermeasures then ensure the attacks are blocked, preserving service continuity.

Example phishing sites detected by EfficientIP for Paris 2024 include:

• Fake booking: http://bookingjoparis2024.xx
• Fake ticketing: http://billeterieparis2024.xx
• Fake shop: https://jeux-olympiques2024.xxx
• Selling trips to europe: https://olympics2024paris.xxx
• Phishing Travel site: http://paris2024-navigo.xxx

Top 3 Benefits

• Stop threats like phishing at the earliest point
• Ensure service continuity
• Protect sensitive customer data

3: Gain Operational Time Savings by Simplifying Network Management and Enabling Automation

Scenario

The Olympic Games encompass numerous venues with a vast number of devices, diverse network needs including at the edge with public access, secure restricted zones, or data transfer for media. Administrators spend lots of time manually provisioning and managing complex multifaceted networks, trying to ensure visibility, consistency, and compliance, and maintain network stability when there are sudden surges in devices and data traffic.

Solution

Massive events require rapid network setup, deployment, and management across on-premises, cloud, hybrid, and multicloud environments, with consistent, up-to-date, and synchronized data across all services. SOLIDserver DDI simplifies network management from a single interface by reducing risk of errors and enforcing corporate policies to ensure network compliance, as well as helping scale the network infrastructure required to handle peak loads during the Games. Making use of open APIs and leveraging IPAM to feed an accurate and effective Network Source of Truth (NSoT), the solution acts as a Network Automation Hub, streamlining network provisioning, configuration, deployment, and decommissioning for new venues and devices.

Top 3 Benefits

• Error-free configurations
• Ensured network compliance
• Increased efficiency with end-to-end automation