US security official says no credible threats to Milano‑Cortina Olympics

“Right now we are not tracking any credible threats,” Tim Ayers, director of the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service Major Events Coordination Division, told Reuters in Milan on Feb. 5, 2026, on the eve of the Milano‑Cortina Winter Olympics opening ceremony. The blunt assessment aimed to reassure athletes, visitors and host communities even as officials flagged persistent vulnerabilities that accompany any global sporting spectacle.

Ayers identified the specter of a lone‑wolf attack as the chief concern for authorities, describing such incidents as actions by an actor who “decides to do something one day. There's no prior planning, they just decide to do something. That's always a concern.” He also highlighted drones and cybersecurity threats, noting that “every network, whether it's MiCo26, the Italian government, whatever it might be, they are probably seeing up to 1,000 DDoS - distributed denial‑of‑service attacks - each day.” Ayers added his confidence in Italian defenses: “I believe the Italians are pretty much up to task in stopping those attacks,” he said.

The opening ceremony is scheduled for Friday at Milan's San Siro stadium. In the run‑up to the event, Reuters accompanied Ayers on a tour of the Diplomatic Security Service operations center; a Reuters photograph shows him pointing to a map as he discussed the United States’ security presence. Several political and environmental protests are also planned in the coming days. On that front Ayers emphasized early information gathering and praised Italian crowd management, saying, “The Italians every time have held back the protest and channeled them into where they are supposed to be and controlled it. We have no reason to believe they won't do the same thing here.”

Beyond the visible shield of police and stewards, U.S. agencies are operating in coordinated but circumscribed roles. Associated Press reporting said Homeland Security Investigations agents will be in Italy to support the mission but largely “working behind the scenes, mainly in offices or the U.S. consulate in Milan,” an anonymous U.S. official told AP. The International Olympic Committee reiterated that security “is the responsibility of the authorities of the host country, who work closely with the participating delegations.” The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee noted it “works with the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, the IOC and the host nation for security planning, but not with U.S. domestic law enforcement or immigration agencies.” The Department of Homeland Security stressed that “Obviously, ICE does not conduct immigration enforcement operations in foreign countries,” and described HSI’s Olympic role as supporting the State Department and the host nation to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organizations, while all operations remain under Italian authority.

The security posture reflects broader trends in how major events are policed in an era of hybrid threats. Cyberattacks and DDoS traffic have become routine irritants that can degrade ticketing, accreditation and communications, forcing organizers to invest in resilient networks and public confidence measures. Meanwhile, the discreet deployment of investigative agents underscores a balancing act between visible deterrence and respect for host nation sovereignty and protest rights.

As delegations arrive and San Siro prepares for the lights and pageantry, officials’ messaging centers on containment and preparedness: no immediate, credible threat has been identified, but vigilance must remain high across cyberspace, airspace and public spaces.