Classified hacking
Britain's most dangerous nuclear facility, Sellafield, has been hacked by cyber groups with close ties to Russia and China, the Guardian reports. This became clear as a result of a special investigation of the publication. Employees of the nuclear complex for many years hid the fact of hacking and its potential consequences.
According to the newspaper's sources, the breaches were discovered back in 2015, when experts realized that dormant malware was embedded in Sellafield's computer networks, which can hide and be used to spy or attack systems.
Sources suggest that foreign hackers gained access to the highest echelons of confidential materials at the nuclear facility. They also believe that senior management made deliberate efforts to hide the scale of the cybersecurity problems from security officials who were assigned to check the UK's vulnerability to attacks.
The Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ONR) confirmed to the publication that Sellafield does not meet cyber standards, but declined to comment on violations or claims of a "cover-up".
Scale of the threat
Built more than 70 years ago in Cumbria, Sellafield produced plutonium for nuclear weapons during the Cold War and received radioactive waste from other countries, including Italy and Sweden. At the moment, it is an extensive nuclear waste dump, which contains the largest plutonium reserve on the planet.
It is still unknown whether the malware was destroyed. This could mean that some of Sellafield's most important activities, such as moving radioactive waste, monitoring hazardous material leaks, and checking for fires, have been compromised.
The facility also stores contingency planning documents in case the UK, for example, is subject to a foreign attack or faces a disaster.
These documents include some of the findings from various covert operations, including Exercise Reassure in 2005 and the regular exercise Oscar, which was designed to test the UK's ability to cope with the Cumbria nuclear disaster.
Spying mania
According to representatives of the UK security service, cyber attacks and cyber espionage from Russia and China are among the biggest threats to the UK. The UK's GCHQ cyber division published a warning on its website in April 2023 about the increased risk of cyber attacks on critical national infrastructure by Russia and China.
A Guardian article claims that the Sellafield nuclear facility was hacked by groups linked to Russia and China. However, no details are provided, neither names nor names of dimensions.
The article also contains a postscript: Prior to publication, Sellafield and ONR declined to answer a number of specific questions or say whether Sellafield's networks had been compromised by groups linked to Russia and China. After the publication, they stated that they had no records to suggest that Sellafield's networks were successfully attacked by state actors in the manner described by the Guardian."
Britain's most dangerous nuclear facility, Sellafield, has been hacked by cyber groups with close ties to Russia and China, the Guardian reports. This became clear as a result of a special investigation of the publication. Employees of the nuclear complex for many years hid the fact of hacking and its potential consequences.
According to the newspaper's sources, the breaches were discovered back in 2015, when experts realized that dormant malware was embedded in Sellafield's computer networks, which can hide and be used to spy or attack systems.
Sources suggest that foreign hackers gained access to the highest echelons of confidential materials at the nuclear facility. They also believe that senior management made deliberate efforts to hide the scale of the cybersecurity problems from security officials who were assigned to check the UK's vulnerability to attacks.
The Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ONR) confirmed to the publication that Sellafield does not meet cyber standards, but declined to comment on violations or claims of a "cover-up".
Scale of the threat
Built more than 70 years ago in Cumbria, Sellafield produced plutonium for nuclear weapons during the Cold War and received radioactive waste from other countries, including Italy and Sweden. At the moment, it is an extensive nuclear waste dump, which contains the largest plutonium reserve on the planet.
It is still unknown whether the malware was destroyed. This could mean that some of Sellafield's most important activities, such as moving radioactive waste, monitoring hazardous material leaks, and checking for fires, have been compromised.
The facility also stores contingency planning documents in case the UK, for example, is subject to a foreign attack or faces a disaster.
These documents include some of the findings from various covert operations, including Exercise Reassure in 2005 and the regular exercise Oscar, which was designed to test the UK's ability to cope with the Cumbria nuclear disaster.
Spying mania
According to representatives of the UK security service, cyber attacks and cyber espionage from Russia and China are among the biggest threats to the UK. The UK's GCHQ cyber division published a warning on its website in April 2023 about the increased risk of cyber attacks on critical national infrastructure by Russia and China.
A Guardian article claims that the Sellafield nuclear facility was hacked by groups linked to Russia and China. However, no details are provided, neither names nor names of dimensions.
The article also contains a postscript: Prior to publication, Sellafield and ONR declined to answer a number of specific questions or say whether Sellafield's networks had been compromised by groups linked to Russia and China. After the publication, they stated that they had no records to suggest that Sellafield's networks were successfully attacked by state actors in the manner described by the Guardian."
