Athletes will be front-and-centre as the world focuses on Beijing for the Olympics but billions have already been spent behind the scenes to ensure potential security threats don't materialize.

In an unusual move, China's secretive government has co-ordinated a major collaborative effort with other countries to develop a strong security front for the Games.

Still, it's an impossible task to protect athletes from more than 200 countries, heads of state, corporate VIPs and spectators from every possible scenario, says a consultant with U.S.-based private security firm GardaWorld.

"The fact of the matter is that you can't completely secure an event like this so there is a risk that something could happen," Ray Mey, who spent 23 years working for the FBI, told CTV.ca.

"Will it happen? Probably not. But can it happen? Yes."

Mey has been involved in the security design of counterterrorism operations for every Olympic Games since 1996 in Atlanta.

For the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, Mey worked on the project full-time for four years, beginning in 1998.

"The complexity of planning an Olympics Games and the operations and everything you have to address is just incredible," he said. "It is a monumental task."

Mey estimates China likely spent about US$10 billion in the last seven years on security measures for the Olympics. More than half of that money was spent on setting up surveillance equipment, such as CCTV cameras, throughout Beijing, said Mey.

Olympic attendees will also notice the incredible amounts of security personnel throughout Beijing, he said.

According to the Chinese government, Beijing now has 150,000 guards, plus 290,000 volunteers doing patrols.

During the actual Olympics, at least 80,000 security guards will be directly assigned to the Games.

"They're going to create this unfriendly environment for any kind of criminal behaviour," said Mey.

"That dragnet alone is going to take care of that 99 per cent of the problem.

"It's that one per cent that can get you."

Tom Quiggin, a former RCMP intelligence and national security expert, said visitors from the West will also be subject to more security procedures and checks than they may be used to in their home country.

"This is part of the price for the Olympics, given that the games are a highly politicized event," he told CTV.ca from Ottawa.

Potential threats

The Chinese face three potential types of attacks, said Quiggin.

The first is from local groups within China who oppose the government -- the most prominent being the Uighur minority in the far northwest.

Chinese authorities claim that militants among the Uighurs -- Turkic-speaking Muslims -- are backing a violent Islamic separatist movement in an attempt to set up an independent state of "East Turkistan.''

"The Chinese government has put the terrorist 'label' on them since 9-11, but they have had a long standing separatist movement which has on occasion used violence," Quiggin told CTV.ca.

Quiggin said the risk from this group is relatively high.

The second threat is from outside terrorist groups seeking to infiltrate China to carry out an attack, said Quiggin. However, he said the threat is relatively low due to logistical and security challenges.

The third option, which Quiggin's described as a "nightmare scenario," is if groups such as al Qaeda were to take Chinese nationals hostage abroad.

For example, if Chinese oil workers in Nigeria were taken captive, the captors could call on China to shut down a part of the Olympics.

"The Chinese have examined this type of threat due to lead intelligence, and they take it seriously," he said.

"Imagine some terrorist groups saying: 'Stop the closing ceremonies or we'll kill your workers.' How do you deal with that one?"

Private protection

To prepare for such threats, large corporations hire firms such as GardaWorld to protect their executives travelling to the Games.

For Beijing, GardaWorld is working alongside international companies in the food services, healthcare, and professional industries.

The clients, which GardaWorld asked to be kept confidential, can end up spending more than $1 million on security alone.

Mey said he's been working with corporate clients for the last year, educating them on crisis management, evacuation plans and executive protection requirements.

Corporations hire security to protect both their VIPs and the billions they've invested in "brand representation" that could be marred if someone from their delegation were to be injured or killed.

As for spectators, Quiggin said the public should feel fairly safe with the security measures China has in place.

"Visitors may be subjected to more security procedures than they are used to in the West, but this is part of the price for the Olympics," he said.

The Olympic Games will run between August 8-24.