ENHANCING CYBERSECURITY FOR SPORTS EVENT NETWORKS: A COMPREHENSIVE FRAMEWORK FOR PROTECTING REAL-TIME DATA AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

Abstract

Background: The use of technology has enhanced the growth and development of the sports industry, especially in the organization and holding of sports events. Integrated, highly developed networks and other data communication systems are crucial in the management of today’s major sporting events and the overall experience of the spectators. These networks undertake various critical operations that make them vulnerable to cyber threats. Objective: The aim of this research is to develop and evaluate a suitable security framework to protect Sports event networks and reduce risk factors affecting the integrity, availability, and confidentiality of the real-time data and communication systems of sporting events. Methods: A multi-layered security framework was proposed, which includes network security protocols and data encryption/decryption, authentication and authorization, intrusion detection, and prevention. To validate the proposed framework, it was tested in both real and simulated environments. Measurement indicators are system availability, false alarms, response time, detection efficiency, network delays, compliance with user rights, and the costs of implementing the framework. Results: The evaluation showed a high detection rate of 98.5% and a low false positive rate of 1.2%, showing the efficiency of the framework in identifying threats. The average time taken to respond to an incident was 12 minutes, as required to detect and resolve security incidents effectively. The framework ensured that 12 minutes were needed to detect and address the security incidents. The framework ensured that the system downtime with an availability of 99. 95% and network latency at 45 ms to ensure availability and response time of the network. Encryption was identified to negatively impact the network throughput by as low as 3%. User access compliance increased from 85% to 97%, and the average user satisfaction rating was above 4.5 out of 5. The framework also led to a 20% reduction in costs that arise from security incidents in the framework. Conclusion: The proposed security framework effectively improves the security of sports event networks and makes them less vulnerable to cyber threats while maintaining high system performance and user satisfaction.  Future Work: Further research is necessary to explore the latest high-level threat identification techniques, improve the security of IoT, and bring in blockchain for data security. Furthermore, examining the interactions of using multiple security technologies and applying the continuous improvement processes will extend the understanding of increasing security of sports event networks.