I read with interest on BBC news today comments made by director of GCHQ (Government Communication Head Quarters) Iain Lobban saying that the UK’s critical infrastructure – such as power grids and emergency services – face a “very real and credible threat from cyber attack”.

Speaking to delegates at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, he stressed that the country’s future economic prosperity rests on ensuring a defence against such assaults. Apparently, around 1,000 malicious emails a month are deliberately targeted at government computer networks.

He also said that the threat offers an opportunity if the UK can get its defences right and maintain integrity of financial and commercial services, which will lead to competitive advantage.

What struck me were the words “real and credible threat”. Coming from a man at the centre of the intelligence industry, I’m inclined to take him seriously.

If power grids are attacked, the problem could be far wider reaching and affect far more businesses and organisations than a cyber attack on a specific computer system.

For years we’ve been working in partnership with our customers to protect against power interruptions caused by unforeseen or unfortunate circumstances, like natural disaster, human error, freak weather – all the kinds of events that when they occur can be devastating but that are not deliberate and therefore can be imagined and planned for. Here we are dealing with – and having to protect against – something equally devastating, the threat of which is growing like an alien force but the like of which it seems impossible to imagine.

On a positive note, however, there is much that can be done by businesses to ensure power continuity – independent of the national infrastructure – even if the National Grid were to suffer such an attack. And with such threats looming, it really is a case of “not if, but when” those power continuity systems will be required to come into their own.

We didn’t break any champagne over the bow, but we did launch 3 new Riello vehicles onto the road last week! RUV 8, 9 & 10 are the latest additions to the fleet and will be put through their paces by Riello approved engineers across the country. To meet these demands, Riello opted to use the award winning Volkswagen Caddy.

Alongside routine service and maintenance calls, Riello’s acclaimed Platinum-level Maintenance Plan offers a 4 hour guaranteed emergency response time; so all of our vehicles need to be reliable, responsive and well-maintained in case of call-out. The new vehicles will allow us to be on-site, on time, when we’re needed with a minimum of disruption.

TV viewers were left watching blank screens yesterday as another London mains failure forced GMTV to delay their live broadcast. Crew and presenters were unable to prepare for the show after a burst water main cut power to the South Bank, affecting the London Television Centre Studies and transmitters where shows such as GMTV and This Morning are filmed. The show could eventually be seen by analogue viewers nearly twenty minutes later – with presenters hastily made-up and some with wet hair. Digital viewers had a longer wait as the signal operates on a separate supply that was not restored until almost 8 am.

Despite the apologies of the presenters and producers, Industry sources are claiming that the incident (which would have surely lost significant advertising revenue) could have been easily avoided. These sources claim that following budget cuts, ITV has refused to repair or replace a faulty emergency power system that should have kept the power on. An ITV spokesperson claimed they were ‘currently putting in place new back-up procedures to address any future issues of this nature’.

A note to the producers – Riello UPS have been addressing the issues of maximising protection while minimising cost of ownership for some time. As a result, a range of our UPS and power protection systems are keeping the cameras rolling in a number of studios across Britain….