Think Nuclear Power plants are run by systems isolated from the outside world?
Think again, says a study by Chatham House at The Royal Institute of International Affairs.
This fact even surprises plant operations teams, who sometimes do not know about new connections to the web.
Now that's unsettling.
Think "Equifax Breach" except with the side effect being a possible nuclear meltdown.
Or maybe that is too much to think about.
This sentence from a report on the study sums up the findings:
"...the trend to digitization, when combined with a lack of executive-level awareness of the risks involved, means that nuclear plant personnel may not realize the full extent of their cyber vulnerability and are thus inadequately prepared to deal with potential attacks."
An MSNBC report says 116 million people live within a few miles of nuclear power plants, and that population is growing.
Of the 100 most populous U.S. Cities, "26 have a nuclear plant within 50 miles: New York, Chicago, Philadelphia (3 different plants nearby), Phoenix, San Diego, Fort Worth, Charlotte (2 plants), Detroit, Baltimore, Boston (2 plants), Washington, Virginia Beach and Norfolk, Omaha, Raleigh and Durham, Miami, Cleveland, Minneapolis and St. Paul (2 plants), New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Toledo (2 plants), Newark, Baton Rouge, and Rochester, N.Y."
With so many of us living in the shadow of a civilian nuclear power plant, hopefully, the nuclear industry will takes steps to increase its cybersecurity.
This is yet another intersection where cybersecurity and physical security merge together.