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Britain’s airports and nuclear power stations have been placed on a terror alert – cyber threat

UK airports and nuclear power stations on terror alert after ‘credible’ cyber threat http://metro.co.uk/2017/04/02/uk-airports-and-nuclear-power-stations-on-terror-alert-after-credible-cyber-threat-6548381  Tanveer Mann for Metro.co.uk Sunday 2 Apr 2017 
Britain’s airports and nuclear power stations have been placed on a terror alert following increased threats to electronic security systems.  Security services have issued a series of alerts in the past 24 hours, warning airports and nuclear power plants to tighten their defences against terror attacks.

Intelligence agencies fear ISIS and other terrorist groups could have developed ways to plant explosives in laptops and mobile phones which can bypass airport security screening methods, the Telegraph reports. Last month, Britain and the US banned travellers from a number of countries carrying laptops and large electronic devices on board.

They also fear terrorists, foreign spies and hackers could try to break into nuclear power station security systems.

Jesse Norman, the energy minister, said nuclear plants must ensure they ‘remain resilient to evolving cyber threats’.

Mr Norman told the paper: ‘The Government is fully committed to defending the UK against cyber threats, with a £1.9 billion investment designed to transform this country’s cyber security.’

Terrorists are feared to have developed the technology after getting hold of airport screening equipment allowing them to experiment.

FBI experts have tested how explosives can be hidden inside laptop battery compartments so that it can still be turned on.They are said to have concluded that the technique would be achievable using everyday equipment.

In a statement, the US Department of Homeland Security said: ‘Evaluated intelligence indicates that terrorist groups continue to target commercial aviation, to include smuggling explosive devices in electronics.

‘The US government continually reassesses existing intelligence and collects new intelligence. ‘This allows us to constantly evaluate our aviation security processes and policies and make enhancements when they are deemed necessary to keep passengers safe.’

Last year al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliate group in Somalia, detonated a bomb on a flight from Mogadishu to Djibouti by hiding it in a part of a laptop where bomb-makers had removed a DVD drive.

April 3, 2017 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, UK