Information Security

As nuclear materials and technologies spread, the global community needs to be ever more vigilant to prevent their acquisition by those that have no legitimate reason to access or use them. International efforts to strengthen nuclear security measures gained momentum when, in 2009, President Obama announced his intention to convene for the first time an international Nuclear Security Summit. Held in Washington in 2010, the Summit was attended by 47 Heads of State who collectively committed to securing all vulnerable nuclear material within four years. Two years later, 53 Heads of State came together at a second Summit in Seoul and agreed a set of concrete actions to deliver on this ambition. The Summit process has functioned not only as a catalyst to move nuclear security up States' political consciousness, but also as a platform for broadening their perspective on this agenda. Specifically, the last three years have seen the international community increasingly recognise the fundamental need for nuclear security regimes to protect not only nuclear material and physical assets from non-state actors, but also the information needed to obtain and use these goods for nefarious purposes