Britain dismisses report claiming Sellafield nuclear site hacking says no malware exists on our system
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A general view shows the Sellafield nuclear plant near Whitehaven in Britain on 23 February 2017 REUTERS
ppHours after The Guardian report claimed that UKs most hazardous nuclear site Sellafield has been hacked into by cyber groups closely linked to Russia and China Britain on Monday said that it has no records or evidence to suggest that networks were compromisedppOur monitoring systems are robust and we have a high degree of confidence that no such malware exists on our system Reuters quoted the government as sayingppThis was confirmed to the Guardian well in advance of publication along with rebuttals to a number of other inaccuracies in their reporting the government addedppOn Monday The Guardian reported that its investigation has found that the astonishing disclosure and its potential effects have been consistently covered up by senior staff at the vast nuclear waste and decommissioning siteppThe news outlet said that it has discovered that the authorities do not know exactly when the IT systems were first compromised But sources said breaches were first detected as far back as 2015 when experts realised sleeper malware software that can lurk and be used to spy or attack systems had been embedded in Sellafields computer networks the report addedppThe report claimed that it is still not known if the malware has been eradicated It may mean some of Sellafields most sensitive activities such as moving radioactive waste monitoring for leaks of dangerous material and checking for fires have been compromised it addedppSources suggest it is likely foreign hackers have accessed the highest echelons of confidential material at the site which sprawls across 6 sq km 2 sq miles on the Cumbrian coast and is one of the most hazardous in the worldppThe Guardian reported that Sellafield which carries out nuclear fuel reprocessing nuclear waste storage and decommissioning had been hacked by cyber groups closely linked to Russia and ChinappThe full extent of any data loss and any ongoing risks to systems was made harder to quantify by Sellafields failure to alert nuclear regulators for several years said the report sourcesppThe revelations have emerged in Nuclear Leaks a yearlong Guardian investigation into cyber hacking radioactive contamination and toxic workplace culture at SellafieldppThe site has the largest store of plutonium on the planet and is a sprawling rubbish dump for nuclear waste from weapons programmes and decades of atomic power generationppGuarded by armed police it also holds emergency planning documents to be used should the UK come under foreign attack or face disaster Built more than 70 years ago and formerly known as Windscale it made plutonium for nuclear weapons during the cold war and has taken in radioactive waste from other countries including Italy and SwedenppThe Guardian said it can also disclose that Sellafield which has more than 11000 staff was last year placed into a form of special measures for consistent failings on cybersecurity according to sources at the Office for Nuclear Regulation ONR and the security servicesppThe watchdog is also believed to be preparing to prosecute individuals there for cyber failingsppThe ONR confirmed Sellafield is failing to meet its cyber standards but declined to comment on the breaches or claims of a cover upppA spokesperson said Some specific matters are subject to ongoing investigations so we are unable to comment further at this timeppIn a separate statement Britains Office for Nuclear Regulation ONR also said it had seen no evidence that state actors had hacked its systems as the paper had describedppBut the regulator said Sellafield was currently not meeting certain high standards of cyber security it required adding that it had placed the plant under significantly enhanced attentionppSome specific matters are subject to an ongoing investigation process so we are unable to comment further at this time the ONR saidppThe Guardian report said the ONR was believed to be preparing to prosecute individuals at Sellafield for cyber failingsppWith inputs from agenciesppJoin our Whatsapp channel to get the latest global news updatespp
Published on
December 05 2023 120932 IST
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Sunak in Dubai for the COP28 leaders day will try to restore the United Kingdoms reputation as a leader in tackling climate change by committing to spend the money on projects in Africa and Asia to tackle deforestation and energy innovation
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A general view shows the Sellafield nuclear plant near Whitehaven in Britain on 23 February 2017 REUTERS
ppHours after The Guardian report claimed that UKs most hazardous nuclear site Sellafield has been hacked into by cyber groups closely linked to Russia and China Britain on Monday said that it has no records or evidence to suggest that networks were compromisedppOur monitoring systems are robust and we have a high degree of confidence that no such malware exists on our system Reuters quoted the government as sayingppThis was confirmed to the Guardian well in advance of publication along with rebuttals to a number of other inaccuracies in their reporting the government addedppOn Monday The Guardian reported that its investigation has found that the astonishing disclosure and its potential effects have been consistently covered up by senior staff at the vast nuclear waste and decommissioning siteppThe news outlet said that it has discovered that the authorities do not know exactly when the IT systems were first compromised But sources said breaches were first detected as far back as 2015 when experts realised sleeper malware software that can lurk and be used to spy or attack systems had been embedded in Sellafields computer networks the report addedppThe report claimed that it is still not known if the malware has been eradicated It may mean some of Sellafields most sensitive activities such as moving radioactive waste monitoring for leaks of dangerous material and checking for fires have been compromised it addedppSources suggest it is likely foreign hackers have accessed the highest echelons of confidential material at the site which sprawls across 6 sq km 2 sq miles on the Cumbrian coast and is one of the most hazardous in the worldppThe Guardian reported that Sellafield which carries out nuclear fuel reprocessing nuclear waste storage and decommissioning had been hacked by cyber groups closely linked to Russia and ChinappThe full extent of any data loss and any ongoing risks to systems was made harder to quantify by Sellafields failure to alert nuclear regulators for several years said the report sourcesppThe revelations have emerged in Nuclear Leaks a yearlong Guardian investigation into cyber hacking radioactive contamination and toxic workplace culture at SellafieldppThe site has the largest store of plutonium on the planet and is a sprawling rubbish dump for nuclear waste from weapons programmes and decades of atomic power generationppGuarded by armed police it also holds emergency planning documents to be used should the UK come under foreign attack or face disaster Built more than 70 years ago and formerly known as Windscale it made plutonium for nuclear weapons during the cold war and has taken in radioactive waste from other countries including Italy and SwedenppThe Guardian said it can also disclose that Sellafield which has more than 11000 staff was last year placed into a form of special measures for consistent failings on cybersecurity according to sources at the Office for Nuclear Regulation ONR and the security servicesppThe watchdog is also believed to be preparing to prosecute individuals there for cyber failingsppThe ONR confirmed Sellafield is failing to meet its cyber standards but declined to comment on the breaches or claims of a cover upppA spokesperson said Some specific matters are subject to ongoing investigations so we are unable to comment further at this timeppIn a separate statement Britains Office for Nuclear Regulation ONR also said it had seen no evidence that state actors had hacked its systems as the paper had describedppBut the regulator said Sellafield was currently not meeting certain high standards of cyber security it required adding that it had placed the plant under significantly enhanced attentionppSome specific matters are subject to an ongoing investigation process so we are unable to comment further at this time the ONR saidppThe Guardian report said the ONR was believed to be preparing to prosecute individuals at Sellafield for cyber failingsppWith inputs from agenciesppJoin our Whatsapp channel to get the latest global news updatespp
Published on
December 05 2023 120932 IST
pp
TAGS
pp
UKMTO said the drone activity originated from Yemen and called on vessels in the vicinity to exercise caution The incident is the latest in a series of attacks in Middle Eastern waters since war broke out between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7
pp
Sunak in Dubai for the COP28 leaders day will try to restore the United Kingdoms reputation as a leader in tackling climate change by committing to spend the money on projects in Africa and Asia to tackle deforestation and energy innovation
pp
Europe and NATO have become increasingly concerned about the vulnerability of critical infrastructure around and under the Baltic Sea JEF a 10nation military alliance of northern European countries is focused on security in the High North North Atlantic and Baltic Sea region
ppNetwork18 sites ppCopyright 2023 Firstpost All Rights Reservedp
