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by throwawayboise 1614 days ago
Good advice for anyone.
2 comments

100% and many companies that are security aware have similar policies.
It's good advice for diplomats and such.

Most people are of no interest to China; why is this warning being given to athletes? Who wants to compromise them? How?

Can you share the criteria by which "China" determines if a person is of interest?
> Who wants to compromise them? How?

Think about it. World class competition. Young person talking to friends about something off color or just young and stupid. Leak it. Mental edge and concentration gone. And that is the least harmful thing I can think of.

Diplomats are protected by the Vienna Convention -- although in practise, I assume many take significant precautions. They must protect against ordinary loss and theft anyway.
A successful or otherwise interestingly profiled athlete in Olympics will have recurring contacts with sports (and lifestyle) beat journalists. They in turn will have contact with their peers working their respective beats.

So with just two degrees of separation from an athlete, you have a high chance to get direct access to political reporters and their contacts. Add device-to-device no-interaction exploits and you're well set at harvesting a whole lot of material.

Blackmail. "Dont win against our team or we will leak your data" being the threat.

China definitely wants to have winning teams when they are hosting.

It might be a bad look on the athletes country if they were to find nudes or something, for lack of a better example. Blackmail in general.

Sometimes that doesn’t matter though, such as the Sukarno sextape.

https://medium.com/war-is-boring/the-cia-and-kgb-tried-to-bl...

> for lack of a better example

That's pretty much the point I'm making.

It's not always what you take in; sometimes it's what you bring back.