Eurovision bosses 'very confident' with plans to prevent Russian cyber attack
Eurovision organisers feel "very confident" they have done enough preparations to prevent a cyber threat from Russia.
They feel their plans to protect the event are in a "really good place" as the BBC has been working with the European Broadcasting Union’s specialist team and the National Cyber Security Centre.
The UK is currently hosting the competition on behalf of Ukraine due to the Russian invasion, prompting fears of possible interference.
Eurovision Song Contest 2023 is taking place in Liverpool and its final will be on Saturday night.
The BBC’s Martin Green said the best way to deal with any threat was “by making sure you are surrounded by the best”.
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Organisers have been working to prevent a cyberattack (Getty Images)“Obviously I did the Olympic opening ceremony 12 years ago and now we are doing this,” he said at the Eurovision venue, Liverpool's M&S Bank Arena.
“There is just a tip where you are looking at security but in those days it was primarily a physical threat and secondarily a technical threat.
“The scales have just gone like that really. Such is life. What I can say is that there is no more work going on at this event than at any other global event that I have worked on.
“It is just the scales are switching and you put a lot more effort into it.
Bosses are extremely confident (Getty Images)“The way to deal with it is to just make sure you have got the best people around you, and we have, and we are very lucky for that.”
Martin Osterdahl, the EBU’s executive supervisor for Eurovision, also spoke of the decision to partner with social media platform TikTok.
It comes after the UK Parliament announced it would block the Chinese-owned app from its devices and networks over security concerns back in March.
Other countries have even banned the app or restricted it.
“Obviously we are aware of the conversation around TikTok. We are following it very closely. We are working with a lot of public service media," he said.
The UK is hosting the competition on behalf of Ukraine (AFP via Getty Images)“They are members of our organisation so we know what is going on in each country and we will continue to follow that very closely.
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“We review all our sponsorship agreements regularly and when they expire. We will do the same with TikTok. We will see what the situation is when that contract expires.”
It was also confirmed people in Russia are effectively barred from voting in this year’s contest due to financial sanctions on the country making it impossible for them to pay the voting fee.
Russia was banned from competing in the contest last year after its invasion of Ukraine.
But for the first time in the competition’s nearly seven-decade history, people from countries outside the contest are able to vote for their favourite act this year.
Their votes are converted into points that have the same weight as one participating country, potentially allowing some Russian citizens to sway the vote.
The final of this year's competition will take place this Saturday, with the UK being represented by Mae Muller with her hit I Wrote A Song.
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