NCSC issues warning on threat to critical national infrastructure

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has issued an alert to critical national infrastructure (CNI) groups on the emerging threat to critical national infrastructure, from state-aligned groups.

The alert warns that some groups have stated an intent to launch 'destructive and disruptive attacks' and the CNI organisations should ensure they have taken steps to strengthen their defences.

The threat mostly comes from state-aligned groups sympathetic to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and has emerged over the past year and a half.

Their actions can be less predictable as they are not motivated by financial gain or subject to control by the state.

The NCSC warned that in the short term, any activity from the groups is likely to take the form of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, website defacements or the spread of misinformation. However, some groups have stated a desire to achieve a more destructive impact against western infrastructure.

Dr Marsha Quallo-Wright, NCSC Deputy Director for Critical National Infrastructure, said: “It has become clear that certain state-aligned groups have the intent to cause damage to CNI organisations, and it is important that the sector is aware of this.

“In the wake of this emerging threat, our message to CNI sectors is to take sensible, proportionate steps now to protect themselves.

“The NCSC has produced advice for organisations on steps to take when the cyber threat is heightened, and I would strongly encourage all CNI organisations to follow this now.”

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