The invisible defense: Protecting DHS systems during history’s biggest soccer event
How months of preparation strengthened DHS operational readiness
Why it matters
- Millions of fans depend on secure operations
- Operational readiness starts long before opening day
- Lessons learned strengthen future homeland security operations
When millions of fans gathered across North America for the 2026 World Cup™ games, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) coordinated security operations for one of the largest sporting events in history.
With matches hosted at 11 venues across the nation, including cities near both the northern and southern borders, DHS relied on secure, resilient technology to help keep millions of fans and visitors safe.
The IT operation behind DHS event security
Behind the scenes, the Leidos Homeland Enterprise Information Technology Secure Services and Support (HEITS) team made sure classified communications and critical IT services remained operational throughout the tournament.
With matches hosted at 11 venues across the nation, including cities near both the northern and southern borders, DHS relied on secure, resilient technology to help keep millions of fans and visitors safe.
This support encompassed 195 sites, 874 workstations, 196 secure video conferencing systems and 199 secure voice devices — all needed to be ready to support emergency response and surge operations.
How technology strengthened readiness at a national scale
To prepare for the biggest World Cup to date, the Leidos team leveraged dynamic data visualization, robotic process automation, simulation testing and comprehensive reporting to give senior DHS leaders real-time situational awareness.
HEITS integrated existing site and services data with ArcGIS, a mapping and analytics platform, to quickly identify facilities within a 150-mile radius of all event venues and assess potential impacts from weather events, law enforcement activity, or other emergencies in each area.
To continuously monitor network segments and end-user devices, Leidos developed a robotic process automation solution to assess equipment readiness. The tool identified outages that could affect service, allowing the team to quickly notify site contacts and resolve issues before they disrupted operations.
This solution also eliminated approximately 1,000 hours of manual equipment checks throughout the event, significantly reducing operational costs while improving efficiency.
Readiness through rehearsal: testing every site and shift
While preparations for the global soccer games remained a priority, HEITS also maintained classified IT services for more than 700 other sites nationwide. To prepare for day-to-day operations and increased event activity, the team conducted drills throughout May
The team mapped the full schedule of games, established times for daily enterprise and site-specific checks, and simulated operations across every work center and shift. This effort helped refine tools and processes and provided more insight into operational requirements.
The readiness exercises ensured HEITS personnel were prepared to support any request for status updates on World Cup venues. These simulation events also equipped the team to update standard operating procedures, training management modules, templates and communication protocols.
As a result, Leidos maintained 99.98% service availability and a 99.63% customer satisfaction rating throughout the event.
The HEITS team is honored to support DHS during one of the world's largest and most complex security operations. Our people bring expertise, innovation, and an unwavering commitment every day to help DHS maintain secure, resilient operations.
Vinay Murthy
HEITS Sr. Program Director
How continuous monitoring helped protect tournament operations
In partnership with other Leidos DHS cyber teams, HEITS also delivered comprehensive security monitoring. Together, the teams developed dashboards and reporting protocols that covered IT services and broader cybersecurity threat awareness, keeping DHS ahead of adversaries seeking to conduct cyberattacks on the agency, U.S. infrastructure and event security operations.
The combined approach gave DHS leaders a comprehensive view of both technology performance and the evolving threat environment, helping maintain secure, reliable systems throughout the event.
A readiness blueprint for future homeland operations
The 2026 World Cup games demonstrated DHS’s ability, supported by Leidos, to execute multiagency, multilocation operations in one of the most complex security environments the agency has faced, resulting in what DHS called the safest World Cup in history. The capabilities refined for this mission now serve as a blueprint for future high-visibility events, national security operations and emerging homeland protection requirements.
As DHS advances into its next era of IT operations, Leidos will continue to invest in secure technologies, automation frameworks and scalable operational readiness tools to respond to agencies’ mission needs.
The work during the World Cup reflects a partnership model that prioritizes national security, empowers frontline operators and strengthens resilience of the homeland.
World Cup™ is a trademark of FIFA and is used only to fairly refer to the World Cup games. Its use does not imply that Leidos has a sponsorship, endorsement or branded promotion with FIFA.
Three things to remember
- Large-scale events require secure, resilient IT operations behind the scenes
- Automation and situational awareness improve mission readiness and response
- Operational lessons can inform future homeland security missions
