THE FIFTH COLUMN- INCREASING THREATS AS SPIES TARGET GLOBAL CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Footage was released as part of the Old Bailey court case earlier this month whereby three Bulgarians were found guilty of being part of a Russian spy unit run by Wirecard fugitive Jan Marsalek to carry out surveillance for the Kremlin on a US military base and other individuals targeted by Moscow.
State threats present a real and evolving risk to the UK, with increased cases of attempting to steal sensitive information through espionage or cyber-attacks. This leaves Data Centres – including the physical infrastructure like servers and storage – in a potentially vulnerable position.
IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT WE PROTECT DATA CENTRES BUILT AS PART OF THE CRITICAL NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE FROM STATE THREATS FROM ESPIONAGE TO TERRORIST ATTACKS
Marsalek tasked the sophisticated British-based Bulgarian team with spying on Ukrainian soldiers being trained at the US base in Germany to track their movements on the battlefield after Russia’s 2022 invasion, British prosecutors said.
Following a series of early morning raids, detectives arrested five people, including the leader, Orlin Roussev, 46, a former City worker at his home, a 33-room former hotel in Great Yarmouth, which contained hundreds of items of sophisticated spying equipment. This was following an extremely complex investigation into a group that was carrying out surveillance operations in the UK and Europe on behalf of the Russian state.
Detectives sifted through more than 200,000 messages before raiding the spies’ properties and finding items, including listening devices, concealed cameras and a fake ID card printer. Three members of the gang were convicted of conspiring to obtain information intended to be directly or indirectly useful to Russia. Three other men pleaded guilty before the trial started. This investigation shows that the police will take action to identify and disrupt any such activity that puts UK national security and public safety at risk. Following a three-month trial in London, this was considered one of the “largest and most complex” Russian spy operations to be uncovered on UK soil.
More information about the group dubbed “the Minions”, acting as spies working for the Russian intelligence service, also known as GRU, can be found here:
https://news.sky.com/Russian spy ring
Security Risk Specialist (SRS) understands that causing disruption and destroying critical infrastructure has long been a tactic of hot and cold wars, terrorism and political activism. Sensitive locations – such as Data Centres– are of incredible value, and spying, interrupting or damaging them is a priority for adversaries in any conflict.
The threat is only exacerbated in today’s era of grey-zone warfare, in which drones or uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) feature prominently, given that they are cheap enough to be purchased by anyone.
Data Centres are a less talked about form of critical infrastructure that have become increasingly vulnerable to drone incursions and attacks, given the sheer value of the almost insurmountable information they hold.
The attacks against Data Centres come in various forms. They can be targeted by spies and hackers attempting to land close enough, such as on the roof of the Data Centre, to conduct remote hacking to steal data or perform other means of cyber-attacks – and this cyber risk is the most commonly talked about method.
Data centres can also be disrupted by payload-carrying drones intended to stop operations and impact the thousands of organisations relying on them, or at worst, fall victim to a terrorist attack of explosive or kamikaze attacks by swarms of drones aiming to destroy them, to cut off critical infrastructure that is Data Centres.
As the majority of Data Centres in the UK are based in and around London, this makes SRS your ideal partner for providing 24-hour physical protection and security. Our professional and well-trained teams are experts in patrolling externally and within the building to identify any potential security breaches.
Security Risk Specialists are leading the way in securing critical national infrastructure Data Centres
SRS currently delivers security solutions for Critical National Infrastructure Data Centres and understands the complexities and risk profiles of these vulnerable facilities. For example, Data Centres typically operate in a no-fly zone, so our security officers work closely with the police to swiftly establish the difference between a careless drone pilot and a threat actor involved in a malicious endeavour.
To prevent physical attacks and know how to respond, SRS trains its teams in ACT Counter Terrorism and Krav Maga combat training to help the police tackle espionage and terrorism by reporting and managing behaviour and activity that doesn’t feel right. Our SIA-licensed professional security guards are trained to pinpoint a drone or intruder and to operate electronic surveillance systems, including CCTV security networks and cameras.
SRS will secure every Data Centre access point with consistent and timely checks of the limited entry points and physical barriers to prevent forced entry, protect sensitive information, and ensure the integrity and availability of critical systems.
Our Management team will conduct regular assessments, audits, and updates to security procedures, which are also essential for maintaining an elevated level of protection. This will likely include:
- Regular penetration testing through simulated attacks to check for exploitable vulnerabilities
- Creating bespoke protocols (Standard Operating Procedures) to mitigate physical risks
- Creating flexible routines and visual factors, such as using uniform and covert operatives so that patterns cannot be easily detected
- Specialist surveillance training to enable our team to quickly recognise hostile surveillance and know how to plan and respond appropriately
Our customers choose SRS because of our ethics, reputation and ability to deliver highly attentive services and support from our local HQ in central London.
For full details of our expert Security Services, please go to: https://srslondon.co.uk/portfolio/security-guards-london/
or call us at 020 3004 4189.
