The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has asked US Olympians to not carry their personal cell phones to Beijing Winter Games, citing the potential for “malicious cyber activities.” The Olympics in China will be held between February 4 and 20. 

FBI, in a notice on Tuesday, asked the athletes to carry burner phones instead of their personal ones. It said that there is no specific threat to the Olympics but it is ‘important that those at the games be vigilant and maintain best practices in their network and digital environments’. 

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“The FBI urges all athletes to keep their personal cell phones at home and use a temporary phone while at the games. The National Olympic Committees in some Western countries are also advising their athletes to leave personal devices at home or use temporary phones due to cybersecurity concerns at the Games,” the agency said in a notice.

Also read: Athletes urged to speak out by activists at the Beijing Olympics

Earlier this months, a report, on similar lines, was published by cyber-security group Citizen Lab. After looking into the official app for the Olympics, which needs to be downloaded for COVID-19 health monitoring purposes, it suggested: a) It was insecure when it came to protecting personal data, b) an encryption flaw enabled a third party to access documents, audio and files, c) it was subject to censorship based on a list of keywords, d) its privacy policy was not clear about who received and processed any data uploaded to it.

Concerns have been raised by US national security officials about Chinese espionage and intellectual property theft.