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Cyber Risks at civil nuclear facilities

The alarming finding posed by Cyber Security Risk through supply chain and through the commercial use of digital technologies in civil nuclear power plants

A report released by Chatham House suggests alarming findings posed by Cyber Security Risk through supply chain and through the commercial use of digital technologies in civil nuclear power plants. 

  • The conventional belief that all nuclear facilities are ‘air gapped’ (isolated from the public internet) is a myth. The commercial benefits of internet connectivity mean that a number of nuclear facilities now have VPN connections installed, which facility operators are sometimes unaware of.
  • Search engines can readily identify critical infrastructure components with such connections.
  • Even where facilities are air gapped, this safeguard can be breached with nothing more than a flash drive.
  • Supply chain vulnerabilities mean that equipment used at a nuclear facility risks compromise at any stage.

"The protection of data and the secure functioning of the critical infrastructure – such as energy, food and water resources, transport and communications – depend on digital technologies functioning safely and securely. Individuals’ privacy in regard to, for example, medical records and insurance data is still being breached to detrimental effect This report, while considering such situations, focuses on a far more dangerous category of cyber attack – when a facility’s industrial control systems are disrupted or even captured and harnessed by saboteurs acting either inside or outside the facilities where these systems are located."

- See more at: https://www.chathamhouse.org/publication/cyber-security-civil-nuclear-facilities-understanding-risks

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