Building Resilience Protecting the UK’s Critical Infrastructure from Hybrid Threats

The United Kingdom’s critical national infrastructure (CNI) faces mounting pressure from hybrid threats combining cyber and physical attacks. From hostile state actors probing digital networks to drones targeting physical installations, adversaries are exploiting the growing interdependence between civilian and defence systems.

The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) 2025 emphasises the urgency of addressing this vulnerability. Energy grids, transport links, communications networks, and defence supply chains form an interconnected ecosystem. A disruption in one area can cascade across others, undermining economic stability and military readiness alike.

At Thales, the view is clear: safeguarding the UK’s CNI requires policy innovation, public–private collaboration, and integrated cyber-physical security technologies to match the scale and complexity of emerging threats.

Shared vulnerabilities across energy and defence

While energy resilience dominates much of the current debate, the same principles apply directly to defence infrastructure. Energy security enables military operations, powering bases, command centres, and defence industry facilities. Three categories of risk demand particular attention:

• Systemic threats: ageing infrastructure, limited redundancy, and exposure to extreme weather events reducing operational availability.
• Cyber threats: state-sponsored campaigns, ransomware attacks, and supply chain compromises targeting both civilian and military systems.
• Physical threats: sabotage, insider action, and weaponised drone attacks against critical sites.

These risks increasingly converge within hybrid warfare models that blur distinctions between civilian and defence targets.

Policy direction and the defence–CNI nexus

Recent initiatives such as the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill and SDR 2025 mark a shift towards a “whole-of-nation” approach. This includes stricter incident reporting, enhanced supplier protections, and integrated cooperation between government, industry, and academia.

For defence stakeholders, this evolution is decisive. Secure energy, communications, and logistics systems underpin every element of military readiness, from base security to operational command and control.

Strategic principles for resilient infrastructure

Thales’ global experience in securing mission-critical systems suggests eight pillars for strengthening CNI resilience:

• Secure and resilient by design: embed Digital Twin modelling from inception to simulate failures, cyber-attacks, and physical strikes.
• Tailored threat intelligence: fuse public, private, and classified data to anticipate emerging attack vectors.
• Zero Trust architecture: adopt verification-based access control to minimise breach impacts.
• Continuous cyber audits: align with frameworks such as the Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) and DEFSTAN standards.
• Cyber-physical protection: secure operational technologies from airfield lighting to weapons storage systems.

• Rapid detection and response: combine AI-enabled threat monitoring with trained human response teams.
• Physical security measures: integrate counter-drone defences, private 4G/5G networks, and advanced surveillance systems.
• Training and simulation: test systems and decision-making through regular incident exercises.

Hybrid threats demand integrated solutions

Adversaries now combine cyber intrusions with physical attacks—using drones as diversions or cyber strikes to disable logistics systems during crises. Countering this requires unified solutions blending intelligence, cyber defence, physical security, and operational resilience.

Thales supports operators with managed service models, delivering capabilities such as:

• Digital Twin simulation for predictive resilience.
• End-to-end cyber security including Zero Trust implementation.
• Counter-drone protection aligned to threat intelligence.
• Threat-specific training for technical teams and decision-makers.

Defence–industry collaboration as a force multiplier

SDR 2025 calls for stronger partnerships between the Ministry of Defence, government agencies, industry, and academia. Priorities include:

• Information-sharing for accelerated threat detection.
• Joint investment in testbeds, training, and advanced technology trials.
• Shared service models extending cutting-edge tools to smaller operators.

As a long-standing partner, Thales brings experience in securing military systems, integrating cyber-physical technologies, and delivering sovereign solutions for mission-critical applications.

Resilience for operational readiness

In today’s contested security environment, resilience means sustaining operational capability despite disruption. For defence, this equates to readiness, deterrence, and force projection.Embedding secure-by-design principles, adopting AI-enabled detection, and integrating cyber-physical safeguards into every layer of infrastructure will ensure the UK remains ahead of evolving hybrid threats.

See Thales at DSEI 2025

At DSEI 2025, Thales will present its integrated cyber-physical security solutions, Digital Twin modelling capabilities, and counter-drone technologies for critical infrastructure operators.Visit the Thales stand to explore partnership opportunities and download the full whitepaper on critical national infrastructure protection.