Nuclear Facilities Are Among The Most Highly Secured Infrastructure

Introduction: - for my research project, I would like to explore about the cyber security measures. Cybersecurity covers the fundamental concepts underlying the construction of secure systems from the hardware to the software to the human computer interface, with the use of cryptography to secure interactions. These concepts are easily augmented with hands-on exercises involving relevant tools and techniques. We have different types of computer related crimes, cybercrimes, computer related offenses, federal approaches defenses. The information resources management has the technical matters for which IT are widely known. Cyber resources and cyber power as well as cyber security. We have spent a lot of time talking about many different high level critical infrastructure protection concepts we have general rule stayed away from cyber security explaining the ins and out of how the NIPP and NRF work together to ensure that we can live our daily live in relative comfort.

The existing NNSA TEMPEST program does not comply with national policy, employ best practices, or fit the Nuclear Security Enterprise; consequently NNSA at is at higher risk of information compromise . NNSA should implement a TEMPEST program that appropriately aligns the cooperative roles and responsibilities under the NNSA Chief of Defense Nuclear Security and the NNSA Chief Information Officer. A closely integrated yet bifurcated program will prevent costly duplication of effort, maintain a consolidated technical security program, and ensure that both Chief, Defense Nuclear Security (CDNS) and Chief Information Officer (CIO) independently yet cooperatively manage risk to NNSA information and information

Stuxnet, is considered the world’s first cyber weapon. Stuxnet may have not run its full course as initially planned as there are 3 main parts and a couple of encrypted files within the code that have not yet been cracked and may never be cracked, but it succeeded in becoming the first cyber weapon. What was the desired end result for Stuxnet? It is hard to imagine that Stuxnet was written only to destroy some centrifuges and slow the pace of Iran’s ability to build a nuclear weapons.

Access to nuclear power facilities was tightly controlled, yet nonetheless in the wake of 9/11 the potential for sabotage was intensely debated. In a January 2002 speech, Chairman Meserve maintained that sabotage prevention had been “an important part of the NRC’s regulatory activities and our licensees’ responsibilities… for decades… And it has been augmented since September 11” (Meserve, 2002a, p. 1). Yet scarcely three months before, a nuclear plant in Michigan discovered that a contractor employee who had been given unescorted access permission to protected areas of the plant had been dismissed from a former employer for using illegal drugs (Korte, 2001, p. 3). Two weeks before Meserve’s speech, a report was filed to the NRC that a Perry Nuclear Power Plant contractor employee had obtained unescorted access to the plant after deliberately lying about his criminal history (Pederson, 2002, p. 1). While his words to the National Press Club were brave enough, Meserve clearly understood the problems he faced; he had no qualms with telling Tom Ridge a year after 9/11 that, “enhancing access control may be one of the most effective means of preventing a successful attack, because an insider could provide significant assistance to an attacking force” (Meserve, 2002c, p. 1). The National Nuclear Security Administration agreed with Meserve, asserting that, “almost all known cases of theft of nuclear material involved an insider. The threat of a nuclear facility insider, either

On December 2015, an adversary maliciously operated supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems that caused power outages, followed by destructive attacks that disabled SCADA and communications systems to the field (E-ISAC, 2016). This type of malicious attack is the first reported case in the world, where there was a direct attack against systems in a nation’s critical infrastructure. This was an escalation from past malicious attacks against basic purpose computers and servers (E-ISAC,

I first heard of Stuxnet while watching a show called Rise of the Hackers from Nova. It went on to describe how the world’s first cyber weapon was used on a perceived threat to the United States’ interests. The program was not developed by a small time hacker in their basement or at a public library. The people that wrote this program obviously knew what they were doing and how to do it. They based it on what is called a zero day event.

2. This blatant disregard to upkeep occurs more often than not and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has noted 56 violations of safety protocol in the past four years. More shockingly, an investigation by David Lochbaum, one of the nation’s leading nuclear power experts, and the president of the Union of Concerned Scientists found that of those 56 violations, 14 of them were

Electric Governance Framework. The National Institute of Science and Technology, the Department of Energy and the Department of Homeland Security have devised frameworks for Cyber Security of the Electric Grids. The National Institute of Science and Technology has released three volumes of guidelines for the Cyber Security in the electric grids.

Kim Zetter an investigative reporter with Wired Magazine online calls Stuxnet, “a piece of software that would ultimately make history as the world’s first real cyberweapon.” (Zetter, 2011, sec. 1)

Cyber warfare is a battle without causalities, a war waged only by written words, fought digitally by those who are bent at disrupting the infrastructure of a nation built on sweat, labor and concrete. Digital battles that are being fought not for money, not for a simple website defacement proclaiming you are the most ‘l33t hax0r on the interwebs’. One of the most major, yet under reported example of this; a lowly worm named Stuxnet. A worm, by the most mundane of definitions, is a self-replicating program, usually malicious, and whose

The backbone of the U.S. economy, security, and health are known as the critical infrastructure. The critical infrastructure includes power, water, transportation and communications systems. The SCADA is Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition which are servers that collect critical information to keep a facility online. A worm virus can spread to the SCADA and interfere with the facility operations, an example would be the Stuxnet worm which cause issues with Iran power plant. According to Kelley (2013), the Stunxet reportedly destroyed about a fifth of Iran’s nuclear centrifuges causing them to spin out of control with the intent to reduce the lifetime of the centrifuges, (Kelley, 2013). The worm caused a lot of delays with the

Human violence continues to prevail as one of the central issues associated with wide-scale utilization of nuclear energy, the two driving forces being terrorism and military conflict. Nuclear Reactors have been targeted multiple times by military airstrikes in the Middle East, one example being when Iran bombed the Al Tuwaitha nuclear complex in Iraq in Operation Scorch Sword. According to October 1980’s National Intelligence Daily (NID), approximately 400 French scientists, technicians and engineers had been working on the reactor at the time of the attack, which damaged the water cooling facility and radioactive waste sites. Little would stop military forces from targeting power plants in the U.S., even with our increased security—is this a risk we are willing to take? The United States 9/11 Commission states, “…nuclear power plants were potential targets for the September 11, 2001 attacks…if terrorist groups could sufficiently damage safety systems to cause a core meltdown at a nuclear power plant, and/or sufficiently damage spent fuel pools, such an attack could lead to a widespread radioactive contamination.” (2009) If extremists did manage to release widespread radiation throughout

In 2014, it was reported that nuclear reactors “provided 2411 billion kWh, over 11% of the world 's electricity”(Plans for Reactors). During that year, the International Energy Agency held special attention toward hazardous scenarios. Minus the conspiracy, “World Energy Outlook 2014 had a special focus on nuclear power, and extends the scope of scenarios to 2040” (Plans for Reactors). In 2030, it is noted that there will be sixty percent capacity growth among nuclear reactors. Countries with existing nuclear power plant count will increasingly expand their nuclear stations. China will have an increase of 46%, while Korea, Russia and India will have 30% all together, whereas the US will have a 16% expansion of nuclear capacity. The plan in motion for 2030 is to have nuclear power plants to have low carbon pollution. “It is noteworthy that in the 1980s, 218 power reactors started up, an average of one every 17 days”(The Nuclear Renaissance) today, there are more than 400 nuclear power plants already made and used, now in the process of expanding their count. In the 1980s, the US had 47 reactors in their base, 18 in Japan and 42 in France. Now, the generating capacity increased in various countries such as USA, Belgium, Germany and Sweden. Many countries have power plants which increase in capacity each year, “...in Switzerland, the capacity of its five reactors has been increased by 13.4%” (Plans for Reactors), a few in US increased to 20%, nine reactors in Spain have an

The Chinese regulatory environment is divided up into three levels. At the highest level, the Standing Committee of the National People 's Congress and in the form of the Presidential Order approve national laws. There is only one national law that specifically pertains to nuclear energy, and that is the “Law on Prevention and Control of Radioactive Pollution”. “This law covers the various aspects of nuclear power development such as site selection, construction, operation and decommissioning of nuclear power plants with particular focuses on preventing and controlling radioactive pollution (SCNPC, 2003).” Other laws related to nuclear safety can be divided into three categories, i.e., resources and environmental protection laws, production safety laws as well as the criminal law and civil law (Mu, Zuo, & Yuan, 2015).

Since 2002, when the international community discovered the undeclared nuclear facilities and the magnitude of the Islamic Republic of Iran 's nuclear programme, several international players and Western countries have focused their efforts on hindering its nuclear agenda. Although the Iranian government has always stressed its civilian objectives, the programme has been considered an important challenge to the non-proliferation regime and international security.