UK Introduces Strategy to Protect Nuclear Infrastructure from Cyber Attacks
The British government has issued a civil nuclear cybersecurity strategy to protect the industry against cyber attacks. The civil nuclear industry provides around 18 percent of Britain’s power, and the government is on the verge of constructing a new fleet of nuclear reactors. The strategy intends to place cybersecurity at the forefront of these new builds as well as at legacy facilities.
There is a credible cyber threat to British critical national infrastructure, including the civil nuclear sector, and without mitigation or prevention such threats could lead to potentially serious consequences. The UK Government Cyber Security Breach Survey found that 65 percent of large organizations reported detecting a cybersecurity breach in the last 12 months, with 25 percent reporting that they were detecting a breach at least once a month.
Additional funding in 2016/17 from the National Cyber Security Programme will deliver further support and increase capacity and capability within the sector. In the next five years, the ambition is to ultimately deliver an industry which has a mature approach to understanding the cyber threat and is able to produce solutions which efficiently and effectively address that threat. This will require in the first instance continuous professional development within the sector, the delivery of a new fit for purpose legislative framework supported by a skilled regulatory function, and a cyber specialist consultancy capability to assist the sector.
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