83% of UK critical national infrastructure (CNI) firms believe that newly implemented sustainable technologies will become a significant cyber-attack vector in the next five years, as new sustainable tech and solutions are adopted amid the drive towards net zero.

This is one of the many insights gleaned from cybersecurity and managed services company Bridewell. Its latest report, Security and Sustainability Across Critical National Infrastructure: 2023, surveyed 500 people responsible for cybersecurity in UK CNI companies.

While, overall, more than eight in ten of security decision-makers agree that newly implemented green technologies — ranging from cloud computing to smart grids to renewable energy infrastructure — will become major cyber-attack vectors, different CNI sectors agree with this to slightly varying degrees.

For instance, the sector which is most in agreement is finance, at 90%. Following the finance sector is transport and aviation (84%), utilities (83%), communications (82%), and lastly government (74%).

While 42% of respondents said that new technologies are harder to manage and protect, 43% pointed to C-level directors having little understanding of the nature of the new threats as a particular risk on this front (43%). Further, 40% said that significant retraining of cybersecurity teams is needed as the adoption of sustainable technologies continues.

According to the research, only 3% of the CNI organisations that responded have no active IT or OT (operational technology) projects focussed on sustainability initiatives in place. In fact, 62% of organisations have active related IT projects, while 58% have active corresponding OT projects.

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When asked about the various ways in which the issue of climate change poses a threat to cybersecurity more generally, 20% believe that climate events such as flooding will lead to damaged critical infrastructure, therefore compromising critical networks. Additionally, 22% think that school or work closures caused by extreme weather will lead to more working from home and therefore increased cyber threats.

Further, 25% also think that economic stress driven by climate change could lead to an increase in cybercrime, while 23% believe a rise in political activism around the climate debate could lead to a rise in crime and hacktivism.

Speaking on the research’s findings, Emma Leith, the Director of Consulting at Bridewell, said: “With malicious actors ready to exploit the instability caused by climate change, CNI cannot afford to let these gaps and oversights persist. Instead, organisations must develop a more coordinated approach to long-term security transformation.”

In response, the report advocates that CNI organisations mount a more robust cyber defence through bringing together the right expertise, technologies, and tools (but also to not lean into tool sprawl), build climate resilience into their security strategies, and create pathways to a more diverse cyber workforce, among other suggestions.