Counter Terror Business - Communications & CNI

Man arrested after 5G mast fire

Polly Jones — Tue, 09 Sep 2025 08:41:19 +0000

A man in his 40s has been arrested in west Belfast on suspicion of arson after a fire at a 5G mast.

PSNI officers attended the scene on Sunday night, along with colleagues from the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service who were able to extinguish the blaze.

Detective Inspector McAnee said: "This is just one of a number of 5G masts that have been set on fire in the area recently. Aside from the significant social and economic impact these attacks are having on the local community, the act of setting fire to large electrical equipment is extremely reckless and dangerous. Those responsible are putting themselves and members of the public at serious risk.”

Underwater robot to improve cable security

Polly Jones — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 07:39:35 +0000

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) has trialled an underwater robot, which is designed to prevent adversaries from sabotaging underseas cables and pipelines.

A commercially available remotely operated vehicle (ROV) has been adapted by Dstl and industry partners to deal with sabotage threats and clear legacy unexploded ordnance.

A number of systems have been incorporated to allow the ROV to detect unexploded ordnance and remotely place explosive charges to enable safe neutralisation.

The robot is able to operate at depths greater than divers can reach, and it can also work there safely for much longer. It can be launched from a ship or a shoreline and is operated remotely, feeding video and sonar images back to the operators.

The new technology will now work in partnership with other robots to scan the seabed for hazards and will be able to deal with them once one is spotted.

Dstl explosives engineer John said: “This technology would be a valuable toolset for keeping our Armed Forces safe whilst providing the public with value for money.

This unique capability with its sensors, tools and cameras will give operators a real time ability to deal with these underwater hazards in a safe, effective and efficient way.”

UK marks Critical Infrastructure Security Month 2024

Polly Jones — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 09:28:00 +0000

The UK is marking Critical Infrastructure Security Month (CISM) for the first time - alongside allies Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America.

CISM highlight the importance of boosting resilience among critical national infrastructure (CNI) including clean drinking water, reliable IT networks, the provision of energy, access to healthcare and emergency services.

Earlier this year, the government designated data infrastructure as a CNI subsector within the wider Communications sector. Through the CNI framework and closer partnership between government and industry, data housed and processed in UK data centres is less likely to be compromised during outages, cyber attacks, and adverse weather events.

In a statement, the cabinet office said: "Our CNI landscape has changed significantly in recent years. We are more aware than ever of the role cyber systems play in our everyday lives and, therefore, work within and outside government is carried out to strengthen the resilience of cyber CNI.

"The resilience of our CNI is fundamental to this government’s missions: their success must rest on resilient foundations. That is why we work across government and with industry and devolved governments to ensure our CNI is as resilient as possible. Our constant close working with our international partners, highlighted during CISM, is also a core part of this endeavour."