French cyberwarriors ready to test their defense against hackers and malware during the Olympics

By JOHN LEICESTER
Associated Press

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Just like the Olympic athletes, the cyberwarriors that will be crucial for the success of the Paris Games are deep into training for the big event. They have turned to friendly hackers to probe their cyberdefenses, like boxers who use sparring partners to ready them for a championship fight. They have studied and analyzed the strengths, tactics and weaknesses of their opponents. But unlike the 10,500 Olympians who will converge on France’s capital in July, the cybersecurity engineers behind the Games are hoping to stay out of the spotlight. For them, the equivalent of a gold medal will be getting through the Games without a major incident.