back to article UK government denies China/Russia nuke plant hack claim

The government of the United Kingdom has issued a strongly worded denial of a report that the Sellafield nuclear complex has been compromised by malware for years. The report, appearing in The Guardian, claimed that the controversial complex was hacked by "cyber groups closely linked to Russia and China," with the infection …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sellafield / Windscale

    I can see another name change coming up.

    That should sort the problem out, again.

    1. Major N

      Re: Sellafield / Windscale

      Sellascale? Or Windfield?

      1. abend0c4 Silver badge

        Re: Sellafield / Windscale

        They could possibly resolve another policy dilemma at the same time by renaming it "Rwanda".

        1. Blazde Silver badge

          Re: Sellafield / Windscale

          "A repeat of the Bibby Stockholm embarrassment is unlikely as the newly repurposed accommodation first built in the 1960s is routinely irradiated, which Home Office officials believe should have destroyed any Legionella bacteria present"

      2. Throgmorton Horatio III

        Re: Sellafield / Windscale

        Wasn't the Winfield brand owned by Woolworths, now gone bust?

    2. Whiskers

      Re: Sellafield / Windscale

      The "Lymeswold" brand seems to be free

  2. Will Godfrey Silver badge
    Black Helicopters

    Hmmm

    While I don't necessarily take what the Guardian says as absolute truth, I definitely don't trust the government to get anywhere near the truth... on any matter!

    1. SW10
      Stop

      Re: over-conditioned denial

      There is a tremendous amount of work going on in that carefully-worded denial:

      "We have no records or evidence {but we have suspicions} to suggest that Sellafield Ltd networks {other networks are present and/or used} have been successfully attacked {we admit people have had a go} by state-actors {it's difficult to know if these hacking crews are genuinely state-sponsored or semi-rogue} in the way described {though other ways are possible} by the Guardian"

      Each of those sub-clauses has its own circle on the Venn diagram - the denial only covers the area where all of those circles overlap.

      1. cyberdemon Silver badge
        Devil

        > the denial only covers the area where all of those circles overlap

        Do they employ the same PR weasels as Ofwat?

        1. AlanSh

          Re: > the denial only covers the area where all of those circles overlap

          Why do I read 'twat' every time I see 'Ofwat'?

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: > the denial only covers the area where all of those circles overlap

          > Do they employ the same PR weasels as Ofwat?

          I think you are missing a letter t.

      2. Strahd Ivarius Silver badge
        Trollface

        Re: over-conditioned denial

        Didn't they just confess that the records and evidence were stolen by the hackers?

  3. Mike 137 Silver badge

    Stuxnet

    " is thought to have been carried out using removable storage devices to get across air gaps"

    The Grauniad is discussing exfiltration of data at Sellafield, whereas stuxnet was aimed at local destruction of equipment. If a destruction engine jumps an airgap it can still operate, but if an airgapped system is infected it still can't exfiltrate data because of the airgap.

    1. John H Woods

      Re: Stuxnet

      "can't" is a strong word. Exfiltrating data over airgaps is a *very* active field of research.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Stuxnet

      And if the malware gets in on removable media, the data can get out that way too,

      At this very moment, in Kremlin basement, Russian intelligence officers are being briefed on the presence of radioactive material and obsolete equipment!

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Don’t the Chinese already own Sellafield?

  5. Teiwaz

    The government oblivious

    digital Britain? With them in charge, we'd be safer with analogue.

    1. abend0c4 Silver badge

      Re: The government oblivious

      According to Oliver Dowden, we should be prepared with battery-powered radios and torches - "analogue capabilities that it makes sense to retain" - so even he clearly has his doubts.

      1. Arthur the cat Silver badge

        Re: The government oblivious

        According to Oliver Dowden, we should be prepared with battery-powered radios and torches

        and candles, which given that we've got very efficient LED lighting and battery packs, is a rather hazardous suggestion for cosplaying that well known manga "1973 Miners' Strike".

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Weasel words

    That's an interesting last line:

    "Some specific matters are subject to an ongoing investigation process, so we are unable to comment further at this time."

    So, they are investigating a possible breach...

  7. ScottishYorkshireMan

    Just considering...

    The amount of Russian money swirling around in the Tory party, and this has been going on entirely under their watch, it wouldn't be surprising if this was a requirement by the Russians in order for selected tories to recieve 'sponsorship'?

    Tories are only patriotic to a point, that point being, their own bank balances. After all, wasn't it Brandon Lewis who said, they pay us, because they are impressed by us or something to that effect https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/russia-report-conservative-tory-donors-brandon-lewis-560586

    So, and considering the competence of the current 'Nuclear Minister' Andrew Bowie, I think that there's enough to make you go "Hmmmm".

    But there again, "Nicola, Ferries, Motorhome and £600K". Obviously the Scottish Daily Distress and Daily Fail know which is most imporant to report on.

    Vote up or down. Don't care. Merry Christmas all.

    1. John H Woods

      Re: Just considering...

      Merry Christmas to you, --- and, given your handle --- I hope it will be excellent value for money.

  8. Tron Silver badge

    Sellafield is 100% secure.

    They ran MSAV on all of their systems and it came up clear.

    1. cyberdemon Silver badge
      Devil

      Re: Sellafield is 100% secure.

      They probably ran Kaspersky too

  9. simonb_london

    I'm so relieved that the Chinese or Russians are controlling our nuclear reactor. For a moment I thought our own government was controlling it. Now that would be scary.

  10. s. pam
    FAIL

    My USB did it, again

    No doubt, in time it will surface that some contractor plugged in a USB stick and the compromises started from there. How many more times do we have to say to plug the damn holes with hot glue?

    That's why when I purchase a new one, it is always wiped, inspected, A/V'd and reformatted with multiple different filesystem formats.

    Not a 100% cure, but certainly has worked for me.

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