Dr. Chris Pierson Founder & CEO, BLACKCLOAK.gettyCybercriminals will be among the World Cup’s biggest fans, but for all the wrong reasons.​ With millions of attendees, sprawling digital infrastructure, global broadcasters and major multinational sponsors, the World Cup presents cybercriminals and nation-state actors with a rich global attack surface.For affluent travelers who can absorb soaring ticket prices, the World Cup is often the ultimate bucket-list experience. But this rite of passage, with its undeniable bragging rights, can also place high-net-worth spectators directly in the line of fire—both digitally and physically—if they’re not prepared.That’s because the same digital connectivity that powers convenience—mobile ticketing, travel apps, public Wi-Fi, social sharing and location services—also creates prime opportunities for cybercriminals, scammers and even physical threat actors.For security professionals, the risk is even more pronounced when protecting executives, public figures, sponsors and high-profile attendees as they navigate a fast-moving, highly visible global event.Executive Protection In A Hyperconnected WorldThe 2026 FIFA World Cup, spanning multiple cities across North America, brings enormous logistical complexity: shifting venues, crowded transit routes, packed hotels, heightened geopolitical tensions and an environment in which digital and physical threats increasingly overlap. Traditional security planning alone is no longer enough.This is where executive protection must evolve. A global event of this scale demands a flexible but comprehensive protection strategy—one that adapts to each city, venue and threat environment while maintaining a consistent baseline of security. That includes hardened personal devices, protected communications, secure travel protocols, social media discipline, incident-response readiness and visibility into emerging cyber threats that may not be apparent in public channels.Open-source intelligence alone only tells part of the story. Some of the most serious threats emerge outside traditional monitoring channels: breached credentials circulating on dark web forums, impersonation attempts targeting executives and their families, leaked personal information sold by data brokers or deepfake-enabled scams designed to exploit urgency and trust.And attackers are no longer limiting their focus to the executive. Family members, assistants, agents and close contacts can all become indirect pathways for compromise. And for many, their whereabouts are known and published ahead of time as they move from one sponsored location to another. This might be a spouse posting a real-time photo from a luxury hospitality suite, a child connecting to unsecured hotel Wi-Fi or a travel coordinator clicking a fraudulent itinerary update. These seemingly small actions can create outsized risk.The World Cup presents a uniquely blended cyber-physical threat environment for VIP attendees and sponsors. Risks range from phishing attacks, malicious QR codes, SIM swapping, credential theft and device compromise to location exposure, stalking, impersonation and targeted fraud. Preparation must begin long before kickoff. That means reducing publicly exposed personal information, securing key online accounts, hardening devices, protecting home networks, monitoring for suspicious activity and ensuring executives and their families understand how attackers operate.Perhaps the most overlooked lesson is that visibility itself creates vulnerability. Sharing a photo in real time from a hotel lounge or broadcasting travel movements may feel harmless, but it can provide bad actors with valuable operational intelligence. In a hyperconnected environment, convenience and exposure often travel together.What makes the World Cup particularly challenging is that the attack surface extends far beyond the event itself. For high-profile individuals, risk doesn’t begin at stadium entry and end at the final whistle. Exposure starts the moment travel plans are booked, hospitality arrangements are shared or personal devices connect to unfamiliar networks. Threat actors understand that moments of distraction, excitement and routine disruption create ideal conditions for exploitation.And in many cases, the most effective attacks never target corporate systems at all. They target the personal lives surrounding the executive—family members, trusted assistants, private communications, home networks and digital identities that often lack the same protections as enterprise environments. That shift reflects a broader reality security leaders can no longer ignore: the boundaries between personal and professional risk have largely disappeared.Moving Beyond The Corporate PerimeterThe organizations best prepared will be the ones that recognize this convergence early. That means thinking beyond conventional event security and embracing a more holistic protection mindset that accounts for cyber threats, privacy exposure, travel intelligence, family awareness, impersonation risk and rapid response when something goes wrong.Once the tournament concludes, organizations should treat the event as a learning opportunity—not simply a successful trip. Post-event reviews should examine both physical and digital indicators: suspicious interactions, route disruptions, phishing attempts, impersonation incidents, device alerts, social media exposure, response timelines and any vulnerabilities that surfaced across the executive’s broader ecosystem.While the World Cup may last only a matter of weeks, the consequences of a well-timed cyber incident can linger far longer. For security teams, the World Cup is not just a sporting event—it is a full-spectrum risk environment.For security leaders, executive protection can no longer stop at the corporate perimeter. In a hyperconnected world, protecting high-profile individuals means protecting the full ecosystem around them—where digital exposure can quickly become physical risk, and where attackers are increasingly willing to exploit both. That makes the 2026 World Cup more than a global sporting event. It is a real-world stress test for modern executive protection.​​​Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?