Kash Patel issues stark warning on FBI's top security concerns ahead of World Cup
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: Jim WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
FBI Director Kash Patel has detailed the lengths the agency is going to in terms of security ahead of the World Cup kicking off next week.
Three million soccer fans are set to descend on the US over the course of the tournament, which is set to begin on June 11.
Obviously such a massive influx of people involves a lot of planning from the authorities, especially in terms of security.
Patel spoke to Fox News about the huge undertaking such has been.
Advert
"It's everything from traditional cop work going out to the streets, talking to communities and saying, 'Hey, do you guys know of any bad actors? Have you heard of anyone that might want to do harm to people or venues?" he told the outlet.
"That's our big security goal for us at the FBI."
The FBI chief went on to say it's lone-wolf threats that pose the greatest risk to national security.
Patel added: "Separate and apart from that, [those] who are doing similar activities, or the disparate actors, the lone wolves that are out there, whether it's in the cyber realm or the violent crime realm.
"So we are heavily relying on the community and state locals and asking them over and over again, 'What are you seeing in the online spaces? What are you seeing in the chat groups?"
The FBI has also expressed concerns about drones during the World Cup, given they can easily be operated by a pilot from an unknown location.
"The critical component that we at the FBI have been focusing down on is teaching our state and local partners how we handle drones and how they can handle drones with us," Patel continued to Fox News.
"And then collectively, it's a force multiplier to have thousands of people out there, tens of thousands of police officers out there looking at the drone threat that's coming in as it comes in, because it's so quick and dynamic."
The FBI has developed technology which is said to be capable of disabling these drones mid-flight, which has since been shared with local enforcement working on the World Cup.
There's also the special operations center in use for the World Cup, intended to neutralise potential threats.
Patel added: "When we're talking about cyber actors, those [are ones] that come in and hack our infrastructure and hold data hostage for monetary payments. So we are taking all of that information to one place and centralizing, at least for us at the FBI, at our headquarters component."