Sellafield ordered to pay nearly £400,000 over cybersecurity failings
Nuclear waste dump in Cumbria pleaded guilty to leaving data that could threaten national security exposed for four years, says regulator
Sellafield will have to pay almost £400,000 after it pleaded guilty to criminal charges over years of cybersecurity failings at Britain’s most hazardous nuclear site.
The vast nuclear waste dump in Cumbria left information that could threaten national security exposed for four years, according to the industry regulator, which brought the charges. It was also found that 75% of its computer servers were vulnerable to cyber-attack.
Sellafield had failed to protect vital nuclear information, Westminster magistrates court in London heard on Wednesday. Chief magistrate, Paul Goldspring, said that after taking into account Sellafield’s guilty plea and its public funding model, he would fine it £332,500 for cybersecurity breaches and £53,200 for prosecution costs.
The state-owned company has already apologised for the cybersecurity failings. It pleaded guilty to the charges – which relate to IT security offences spanning a four-year period from 2019 to 2023 – when they were brought by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) in June.
