Preparations for the 31st FISU World University Games, which is set to be held from July 28 to August 8 in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, have entered the final stages.

Cyber security is important to ensure the success of the games. CGTN talks with a cyber security service provider for the event in an online interview to learn about the current preparations.

He Kong, vice president of DAS-Security, told CGTN that they have been preparing for the games since 2020. He said because every venue has unique professional quality, access and infrastructure, they have adopted different security strategies for different venues.

The upcoming World University Games in Chengdu is the first time for the event to recruit cyber security volunteers across the world.

"We recruited 500 volunteers in total, including academicians, students and professors from global colleges and universities, and other fields," said He Kong.

The volunteers are fully involved throughout the games. They mainly did drills in the early stage to find possible loopholes in the events, and they will provide testing and security services during the games.

'No mistake is allowed'

The large-scale World University Games require high-level cyber security. He said the first difficulty is that there are many venues with complicated systems.

"Any of the venue access points could be attacked by hackers without reliable protection," he further explained.

Moreover, the events could face interruptions if the internet service was unavailable, causing transmission interruption and affecting ticket checking and scoreboards. And if the videos of the games are falsified during transmission, it could cause political negative consequences, He Kong said.

Another difficulty He mentioned is the time and language differences. Since athletes, reporters and volunteers are from across the world, they need to work hard to coordinate effectively.

China in line with world leading cyber security enterprises

China's cyber security ability has been improving in recent years. He Kong believes that China is on a par with international leading enterprises in terms of cyber security technology.

"There are Chinese among the global top white-hat hackers, and Chinese enterprises are in the front rank in some major cyber security competitions," he said.

"For some new concepts and technology related to cyber security, foreign countries normally propose them a little earlier than us. They are more conscious about innovation," he added.

He Kong participated in the games' torch replay in Chengdu on July 2. As one of the torchbearers, he believes that the games could further enhance the influence of Chengdu.

"The games are full of youth and vigor with the spirit of optimism," he said. "And the event can inspire us to live a healthy life and work happily, and incorporate sports into our lives."

Videographer: Qi Jianqiang

Video editor: Zhao Yuxiang

Cover image: Liang Qian