NTI hosts more than 40 nuclear experts at fifth Cyber-Nuclear Forum

The nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) drew together dozens of nuclear experts from 15 countries and international organizations earlier this month for its fifth Cyber-Nuclear Forum, dedicated to addressing ransomware, supply chain issues, workforce maintenance, and effective security.

As guided by a steering group, the forum was created to spread and share best practices for the nuclear industry’s security. It was viewed as a need, especially in a world where many nations with emerging nuclear programs lack hands-on knowledge gained from years of operating experience and struggle to attract technical talent to address the issue of cyberattacks on critical facilities.

“NTI’s Cyber-Nuclear Forum is a vital, one-of-a-kind network that offers great benefits to participants, to the nuclear industry, and to global security broadly,” Page Stoutland, former NTI vice president of Scientific and Technical Affairs, who organized and attended the April meeting in France, said.

In the highly connected and digital modern age, few things are immune to cyberattacks, and the nuclear industry is no exception. NTI noted that compromising a facility’s business networks could lead to the loss of sensitive business information, much as with any business. Unlike most businesses, though, if a nuclear facility is compromised, this could lead to lost and leaked security information or the safety of a nuclear facility at large – something with great potential for wider-scale societal harm.

Global demand for cyber nuclear experts is high, NTI said, but that creates its own issues for a limited field. Ensuring adequate technical capacity remains a challenge, according to NTI, and will continue as such in the days ahead.