Security firm gets Winter Olympics mandate

Chinese security company Qi An Xin Group said on Thursday that it has become an official sponsor of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and will provide cybersecurity and anti-virus software solutions for the global sporting event.

Han Zirong, secretary-general of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, said the association with Qi An Xin will help reduce the cybersecurity risks for the event.

"The events offer enterprises a giant opportunity to accelerate their brand building and enhance their competitive advantage," Han said during a media briefing in Beijing.

Due to the advent of technologies like mobile internet and internet of things, new cybersecurity risks are emerging due to the new era of pervasive connectivity.

Compared with the 1G to 4G era, the next-generation superfast 5G tech will serve various industries and foster a wide range of applications, thereby allowing people, devices and organizations to better connect with each other.

Qi Xiangdong, chairman of Qi An Xin Group, said cybersecurity has become not just an important but a necessary step for the Olympic Games.

"Hacking attacks will pose great threats to the safety of the event," Qi said. "We are committed to investing time and resources, as many as 3,000 people, to avoid such risks during the upcoming Winter Olympics."

Qi said due to the complicated Olympic system, the company does not have the right to transform its working system or screen the network services providers, thereby posing greater challenges to the company's security capabilities.

"We will work closely with previous information and network providers to keep a safe and sound cyber environment," Qi added.

To better serve the global sporting event, Qi An Xin has established the Beijing Winter Olympics network security operation center. It will continue to collect information on competition venues and accelerate the push for the safe design of the overall network services.

In May this year, Qi An Xin Group announced a strategic partnership with the State-owned China Electronics Corp, marking a key step for the company to join the national network security sector. With nearly 8,000 employees, the company claimed its technologies have been adopted in 90 percent of the government departments, State-owned companies and large banks.

As of now, the Beijing Winter Olympic Committee has signed on 10 official partners, eight official sponsors and five official suppliers.