ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

As hackers continue to rampage through closely guarded information systems and databases with monotonous regularity, there is a tempting new target for cyberattacks: the world’s nuclear facilities. A warning has already been sounded by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has urged the world community to intensify efforts to protect nuclear facilities from possible attacks. Pointing out the nuclear industry was not immune to such attacks, IAEA DirectorGeneral Yukiya Amano says there should be a serious attempt at protecting nuclear and radioactive material – since “reports of actual or attempted cyberattacks are now virtually a daily occurrence.” The United States, whose defence networks at the Pentagon and also its intelligence agencies have already been compromised by hackers largely from Russia and China, is increasingly concerned about possible cyberattacks by terrorist organisations – specifically the Islamic State (IS) with its heavy and sophisticated presence on