Cyber threat to Trident warning from Leicester expert

A Leicester expert on nuclear proliferation has briefed a group of senior politicians in Parliament on the cyber threat to Trident.

Dr Andrew Futter (pictured), Senior Lecturer in International Politics, presented to a panel that included the former Secretary-General of NATO, former UK Ambassador the UN, former Deputy Prime Minister, former First Sea Lord, former Defence Secretary, and the former head of the Defence Select Committee.

The academic was invited to make the presentation after group members had read a briefing paper on the topic by Dr Futter.

The Top Level Group (TLG) of UK Parliamentarians for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation is a cross-party group of senior British parliamentarians, chaired by former Foreign Secretary Dame Margaret Beckett MP, who share the belief that multilateral nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and nuclear security are critical global issues ought to be addressed, as a priority, by governments worldwide.

Dr Futter, of the Department of Politics and International Relations, said: “The key message to the group was that UK nuclear weapons will never be entirely safe from cyber attack and we must act now to mitigate this growing challenge, but also that the threat is nuanced and varies considerably in implications. I also argued that the nuclear environment of the next 20-30 years when the next generation of submarines is likely to be deployed will be much more challenging and complex, and it remains unclear whether current UK nuclear posture will be able to meet this challenge.”