Security News > 2023 > December > 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 detected in 2015 but perhaps present before that year.
The report claimed that "Sleeper malware" was embedded in unspecified systems, potentially compromising info on movement of nuclear materials and matters related to safety.
A UK government statement insists "We have no records or evidence to suggest that Sellafield Ltd networks have been successfully attacked by state-actors in the way described by the Guardian," adding "Our monitoring systems are robust and we have a high degree of confidence that no such malware exists on our system."
The Guardian's report mentioned infections in "IT systems" and malware "Embedded in Sellafield's computer networks."
It is not clear if those systems and networks are isolated, per the government response.