Establishing cyber security programs for I and C systems at nuclear facilities

In recent years, across the international nuclear community, cyber security issues have quickly gained significant attention from safety authorities and plant designers alike. This increased attention was accelerated by news of the Stuxnet virus, which impaired control systems at Iranian nuclear facilities in 2010, but is also fueled by regular news about cyber security breaches of data systems at large business corporations. This paper discusses key aspects of establishing a cyber security program for Instrumentation and Control (I and C) systems at a nuclear facility, and identifies inherent aspects of nuclear power plant (NPP) design, that differentiate the needs of such a cyber security program from those of typical corporate data systems. (orig.)