The Olympic Games officially begin on Friday, during a period marked by significant international tensions. An impressive security system has been put in place to
ensure the smooth running of the competition, but numerous threats remain.
More than 30,000 police officers and gendarmes, 20,000 security agents, and 10,000 soldiers from Operation Sentinel have been mobilized to guarantee the safety of the Olympic Games. The French capital expects over 15 million tourists during the competition, and the opening ceremony will be watched by a billion viewers worldwide. "We are ready," assured Emmanuel Macron four days before the opening.
However, according to French intelligence, the risk of foreign interference or a terrorist attack remains high. Despite the territorial defeat of the Islamic State and the death of the Al-Qaeda leader in Yemen, "the threat is real and constant, it has not changed in several years," explains Wassim Nasr, international columnist at France 24 and co-author of an article for the American counter-terrorism journal CTC Sentinel.
The Latent Threat of Islamic Terrorism
According to France Inter, intelligence has identified a dozen Islamic State operatives in the Turkey-Syria region capable of activating sleeper cells in France at any moment. "It is the latent, constant threat of a person acting alone, grabbing a knife, and deciding to attack in the name of a group," estimates Wassim Nasr. On Monday, a man previously convicted of Islamist radicalization was charged with attempted murder related to a terrorist enterprise after stabbing a taxi driver near Le Mans.
Public Disorder Risks Linked to the Gaza War
In addition to terrorist threats, certain state actors seek to exploit the tensions caused by the Gaza war to disrupt public order. "The turmoil from the Gaza war can push some individuals to create public disorder, to prevent teams from reaching their competition venues," explains the France 24 columnist. The Israeli Olympic delegation is particularly at risk and benefits from 24/7 enhanced security.
Pro-Russian Threats and Destabilization
Police services have observed an increase in pro-Russian destabilization maneuvers. On Sunday, Kirill Griaznov, an FSB agent without diplomatic cover, was arrested in Paris and charged with "intelligence with a foreign power to incite hostilities in France." The following day, a 44-year-old Frenchman and two Russian nationals were arrested while trying to drive into the Security Interior and Counter-Terrorism (SILT) zone. The DGSI will reconvene them after investigation.
Informational Warfare Against France
These actions are part of an informational war waged by Russia against the West and Ukraine's supporters. The production of fake news increases as the Olympics approach, as evidenced by a fake Hamas threat video against France, viewed over 14 million times. David Colon, a researcher at Sciences-Po, notes that Russia seeks to create trouble during the Olympics to discredit the IOC, the Olympics, and Paris, in the context of the Ukraine war.
Cyberattacks and IT Security
Individual actors, such as hackers, could also take advantage of the Olympics to create trouble out of cynicism or greed. During the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, organizers faced over 450 million cyberattacks. The Paris prosecutor's office announced a large-scale "disinfection operation" to eliminate a computer virus affecting millions of users, especially in France. This operation demonstrates the vigilance of various actors mobilized to combat all forms of cybercrime. Photo by Egbpl, Wikimedia commons.