The centre is located near the Sellafield nuclear plant, which was fined last month after years of cybersecurity failings.
The UK government’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has opened a new cybersecurity hub to protect the nuclear sector from virtual threats.
The Group Cyberspace Collaboration Centre (GCCC) aims to accelerate collaboration across nuclear operators and the supply chain, on the adoption of innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, and enhance their collective ability to successfully defend against cyberthreats.
The aim of the NDA is to clean up the UK’s earliest nuclear sites safely, securely and cost effectively.
The new hub is based at Herdus House in Cumbria near Sellafield nuclear plant. Sellafield, which is part of the NDA, was fined £332,500 last month for years of cybersecurity failings. It was found that 75pc of its computer servers were vulnerable to infiltration.
According to the NDA, the GCCC will provide a space for experts to share knowledge on how to defend UK-based nuclear sites against “evolving” threats.
The GCCC forms part of the NDA group’s growing portfolio of cyber capability – back in August, a joint Cyber Security Operations facility was opened in Warrington.
David Peattie, the NDA group CEO, said the new hub will help keep the UK “safe, secure, resilient and sustainable in cyberspace”.
“Enabling us to work together more closely means we can defend as one, benefitting the collective security of the individual organisations we serve,” Peattie said.
Warren Cain, a superintending inspector for the UK’s Office of Nuclear Regulation, emphasised that all nuclear sites must have strong cybersecurity systems in place in order to protect important data from being compromised by cyberthreats.
“Cybersecurity is a key regulatory priority for the Office for Nuclear Regulation, and we welcome the NDA’s commitment to strengthen their cyber defences with this new specialist facility,” Cain said.
With current conflicts, disruptive politics and the rapid advancement of technologies, the cybersecurity sector across the world is facing numerous challenges.
The CEO of cybersecurity company Smarttech247, Raluca Saceanu discussed evolving cybersecurity threats in the age of sophisticated AI technology.
“We have seen a massive focus on targeting organisations that operate in critical infrastructure for various motivations – financially oriented or to disrupt operations,” Saceanu said.
“This means that there are more and more ransomware attacks on manufacturing, energy and healthcare that are not only encrypting data, but also exfiltrating this data to ask for enormous ransom payments because they know that these organisations cannot afford any disruption.”
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