New report reveals how the Center for Internet Security helped FIFA and public safety partners identify threats and protect the world’s largest sporting event
CLIFTON PARK, NY, UNITED STATES, July 21, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Threats of violence against players, referees and fans. Pro-Jihadist calls for knife, vehicle, and arson attacks. More than one billion cyber threats. Eleven U.S. host cities, and 6.25 million spectators were protected from this and more during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Over the 39-day tournament, the Center for Internet Security, Inc.® (CIS®) embedded analysts within FIFA security operations to provide real-time threat monitoring, strategic analysis, and weekly reviews on emerging risks and trends.
CIS’s newly released report, Securing FIFA World Cup 2026: CIS Threat Intelligence and Operational Support, highlights how the organization helped support security operations before and during one of the largest and most complex public events ever hosted across North America. The tournament presented a broad range of security challenges, including not only cyber threats, ticketing scams, and illicit gambling, but also extremist activity and threats of violence.
“Large-scale events now face a wider range of threats than ever before,” said John Cohen, Executive Director of the Office of Strategic Programs & Initiatives at CIS. “The World Cup demonstrated that effective security requires more than protecting networks or venues. It requires bringing together law enforcement, emergency management, cybersecurity professionals, event organizers, and private-sector partners to identify potential threats early, share information quickly, and take coordinated action. The lessons learned during FIFA World Cup 2026 will help communities better prepare for future major events.”
As the United States prepares to host future high-profile events, including internationally recognized competitions such as the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and the U.S. Open Tennis Championships in New York, as well as major national events like the Freedom 250 Grand Prix in Washington, D.C., the report underscores the importance of planning, information sharing, and cross-sector collaboration to help keep communities safe.
To learn more, or to arrange an interview with a member of the CIS team, please contact media@cisecurity.org.
Additional resources:
Cybersecurity Where You Are, Episode 196– A deep dive conversation into the security preparations behind the world’s largest sporting event with Director of Intelligence and C4 Operations for FWC26 Sasha Larkin and Executive Director for the Office of Strategic Programs & Initiatives (OSPI) at CIS John Cohen.
Video: One Mission. One Team. – A video highlighting the people and partnerships that kept the 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament secure.
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About CIS
The Center for Internet Security, Inc. (CIS®) makes the connected world a safer place for people, businesses, and governments through our core competencies of collaboration and innovation. We are a community-driven nonprofit, responsible for the CIS Critical Security Controls® and CIS Benchmarks™, globally recognized best practices for securing IT systems and data. We lead a global community of IT professionals to continuously evolve these standards and provide products and services to proactively safeguard against emerging threats. Our CIS Hardened Images® provide secure, on-demand, scalable computing environments in the cloud. CIS is home to the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center® (MS-ISAC®), the trusted resource for cyber threat prevention, protection, response, and recovery for U.S. State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial government entities. To learn more, visit cisecurity.org or follow us on X: @CISecurity.
Kelly Wyland
Center for Internet Security
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