Data Centres as Critical as National Grid and Water Systems, Says Government

The government has classified data centres as Critical National Infrastructure (CNI), putting them on a par with the National Grid and the defence sector.
By making them part of the UK’s CNI, data centres will receive greater government support in the event of critical incidents, such as cyber attacks, IT blackouts, adverse weather conditions, and other disasters.
Data centres are the buildings which store the data generated in the UK, and can include information ranging from a person’s pictures on their mobile phone to NHS patients’ records and other sensitive information.
With this designation—which covers both the physical data centres and cloud operators that use them, like Microsoft Azure—the industry will have a dedicated CNI data infrastructure team of government officials who will monitor for potential threats and will provide access to agencies like the National Cyber Security Centre.
For example, if there were a cyber attack on a data centre holding NHS patients’ information, the government would intervene to ensure contingencies were put in place to mitigate the risk to services, such as those which could affect hospital appointments.
“Bringing data centres into the Critical National Infrastructure regime will allow better coordination and cooperation with the government against cyber criminals and unexpected events,” Kyle said.
Also on Thursday, major telecommunications operator BT revealed that they log 2,000 signals of potential cyber attacks every second, saying that according to its latest data, there had been a 1,234 percent increase in new malicious scanners across its networks in the last year.
BT says it is likely due to cyber criminals moving to AI-powered automated bots to scan for vulnerabilities.
On Thursday, data company DC01UK submitted plans to construct Europe’s largest data centre in Hertfordshire, investment worth £3.75 billion and which could create 700 local jobs as well as support nearly 14,000 data and tech jobs across the country.
Earlier this week, Amazon Web Services (AWS)—the world’s largest cloud service provider—also announced plans to invest £8 billion in the UK over the next five years on building, operating, and maintaining data centres.
AWS said AI and cloud computing were the drivers for this need in the investment, because the development and maintenance of new AI tools requires large amounts of power and space.
Tanuja Randery, vice president and managing director for AWS in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, said that the next few years could be “among the most pivotal for the UK’s digital and economic future, as organisations of all sizes across the country increasingly embrace technologies like cloud computing and AI to help them accelerate innovation, increase productivity, and compete on the global stage.”
“We’re proud to announce our plans to invest £8 billion in digital and AI infrastructure over the next five years to help meet the growing needs of our customers and partners, and support the transformation of the UK’s digital economy,” Randery said.