Nuclear Power Plants At Risk Of ‘Serious Cyber Attack’, Warns Report
Nuclear plants around the globe are at increasing risk of a ‘serious cyber attack’, warns a new study.
According to a new report from the world’s most influential non-U.S. think tank, Chatham House, ageing control systems and a lack of understanding could lead to a nuclear facility being hacked, with potentially deadly results.
Worryingly, the report also says that a lack of training and a lack of communication between engineers and security staff means that power plant staff are often unaware of key cyber security procedures.
The study also tackles the myth that nuclear power plants are ‘air gapped’ - isolated from the public internet, making them immune to cyber attack from hackers and cyber terrorists.
The report states that this is not true in most cases and says that even those facilities that are air gapped can be easily breached with basic hardware.
The report, entitled Cyber Security at Civil Nuclear Facilities: Understanding the Risks, states that the problem “requires an organizational response by the civil nuclear sector” listing a number of recommendations.
These include forbidding the use of personal electronic devices and carrying out detailed cyber security risk assessments. The report also suggests that all nations around the should adopt a uniform set of standards for preventing a potentially lethal attack.
Recent large-scale cyber attacks include the the hacking of credit checking firm Experian where the details of 15 million T-Mobile customers were stolen.
This followed a massive data breach at controversial affair-enabling website Ashley Madison, where sensitive subscriber details were stolen and published online.
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