The organizing committee of the upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics said Sunday that its has launched a cybersecurity panel to guard against possible hacking attacks.  
  
The committee said it appointed civilian experts in the cybersecurity field late last week as well as officials from the science and ICT, culture and interior ministries as well as the police so it can guard against and respond effectively to Internet-based threats.
  
PyeongChang, located 182 kilometers east of Seoul in the mountainous Gangwon Province, is set to host the 2018 games that will run from Feb. 9 through Feb. 25.   
  
"It will be tasked with preparing for cyberattacks that can disrupt preparations for the games and ensure the first ever Winter Games held in the Northeast Asian country is a success," an official at the organizing committee said.  
  
The 13-member panel led by Soon Chun Hyang University's information protection professor Yeom Heung-yeol will also advise the Olympic organizing committee on establishing large-scale communication networks, data systems and the information technology equipment that has been put in place.   
  
In addition, PyeongChang organizers said that it has set up a specialized technical panel made up of leaders of local hacker associations like Hackers Reunion, or HARU, to give realistic advice to deter cyberattacks. (Yonhap)