How Thales' Welsh cyber-centre is helping industry partners secure tomorrow's technologies

Situated among the sprawling valleys in Ebbw Vale, South East Wales, the National Digital Exploitation Centre (NDEC) sits in the home of the town’s former steelworks site.

You could say this is a reasonably fitting location for a technology campus dedicated to protecting industry, considering its contribution to the industrial revolution. 34,000 people were employed at the Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron and Coal Company during its peak — but the steelworks suffered the hit of The Great Depression as the town’s industrial hub suffered liquidations and layoffs. Eventually, in 2002, it was closed down for good.

Instead, the site now hosts a ‘cyber range’ testing facility and education centre that serves to help secure the next-generation technologies that industry needs to thrive in an increasingly digital and automated world.

Cyber threats continue to evolve, increasing in sophistication as the ‘smart’ technologies we use in manufacturing and beyond continue to modernise. A report published last year by manufacturing industry body Make UK revealed that 47 per cent of Britain’s manufacturers had been the victim of cyber-crime in the previous 12 months, with 62 per cent revealing that cyber attacks had cost their business up to £5,000 — for 22 per cent, this rose to between £5,000 and £25,000.