Cyber security of Mega Events: A Case Study of Securing the Digital Infrastructure for MahaKumbh 2025 -- A 45 days Mega Event of 600 Million Footfalls
Rohit Negi, Amit Negi, Manish Sharma, S. Venkatesan, Prem Kumar, Sandeep K. Shukla

TL;DR
This paper details the cybersecurity approach for MahaKumbh 2025, a large-scale 45-day religious event with 600 million participants, emphasizing risk management and securing temporary digital infrastructure against cyber threats.
Contribution
It presents a novel cybersecurity assessment and risk management methodology tailored for the unique challenges of securing temporary mega-event digital infrastructure.
Findings
No successful cyber attacks during the event
Effective risk management strategies implemented
Framework applicable to future mega-events
Abstract
Mega events such as the Olympics, World Cup tournaments, G-20 Summit, religious events such as MahaKumbh are increasingly digitalized. From event ticketing, vendor booth or lodging reservations, sanitation, event scheduling, customer service, crime reporting, media streaming and messaging on digital display boards, surveillance, crowd control, traffic control and many other services are based on mobile and web applications, wired and wireless networking, network of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras, specialized control room with network and video-feed monitoring. Consequently, cyber threats directed at such digital infrastructure are common. Starting from hobby hackers, hacktivists, cyber crime gangs, to the nation state actors, all target such infrastructure to unleash chaos on an otherwise smooth operation, and often the cyber threat actors attempt to embarrass the organizing…
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