According to a recent report by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), governments, industry and international organizations alike must accelerate response efforts to protect against cyberattacks to protect against catastrophic consequences.
The report, titled Outpacing Cyber Threats: Priorities for Cybersecurity at Nuclear Facilities, was released at the IAEA International Conference on Nuclear Security in Vienna, Austria. It outlines specific actions needed to better secure nuclear facilities’ cyber infrastructure to improve faster than today’s cyber threats.
While improvements have been made in various aspects over the last decades, cyber threats have continued to increase exponentially as technologies develop.
“Beyond the unthinkable potential human toll, a serious cybersecurity breach would profoundly shake global confidence in civilian nuclear power generation,” NTI Co-Chairman and CEO Sam Nunn said. “Governments and industry simply must get ahead of this rapidly evolving threat.”
Specific priorities outlined in the report include institutionalizing cybersecurity by implementing robust processes for program management, mounting an active defense strategy by developing a means of responding to threats once a compromise occurs and reducing complexities by developing hard-to-hack systems for critical applications. The report also provides a list of 23 publicly-disclosed cyber incidents at nuclear facilities since 1990, highlighting recent incidents.
“This report is our first contribution to ensuring that no one with malicious intent is able to engage in nuclear sabotage or to gain access to some of the world’s most powerful—and most dangerous—materials,” Nunn said.
The Nuclear Threat Initiative works to prevent catastrophic attacks with weapons of mass destruction and disruption, such as nuclear, biological, radiological, chemical and cyber.