Nuclear cops: Legacy tech made our Microsoft Teams video call system “insecure”
Police force that protects nuclear sites admits to security failure caused by the end of Windows 10 support.
The police force that protects Britain’s nuclear sites suffered a security failure after its tech became obsolete.
Machine can reveal that the Civil Nuclear Constabulary’s video conferencing system became “insecure and non-functional” when Microsoft ended support for Windows 10 last October.
The CNC, whose armed officers protect nuclear materials and power stations across the UK, was forced to replace its video conferencing (VC) system following the security issue.
It is not known whether the video conferencing system was compromised, although Microsoft previously warned that unsupported Windows 10 devices no longer receive security updates, leaving newly discovered vulnerabilities unpatched and potentially increasing their exposure to malware and other attacks.
In a tender notice, the Civil Nuclear Police Authority, which oversees the nuclear cops, wrote: "Due to Microsoft officially ending support for all Windows 10 devices in October 2025, all Teams applications running on CNC's existing Surface Hub devices became non-functional and insecure, therefore requiring CNC to replace the hubs with a new VC system."
The force has now awarded a further £83,000 contract to extend the replacement system to its new headquarters at Harwell and its Sellafield Operational Unit.
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Its chosen supplier is an authorized partner of a Chinese video conferencing giant and advertises “top-of-the-range Teams Rooms equipment” made in the People's Republic.
However, the notice does not identify the manufacturer of the equipment being installed at the nuclear police sites. Machine is withholding the names of the supplier and Chinese manufacturer while it conducts further reporting.
The manufacturer has previously denied sharing information with the government in Beijing after questions were raised about the security of its products in the US and the Netherlands.
"CNC needs to ensure that any new installations to B150 and Sellafield are fully compliant with our security specifications and integrate and operate seamlessly with the current VC system," the Civil Nuclear Police Authority added.
We have written to the CNC for comment and will update this story with further information as we have it.
This article was initially published as part of Machine’s new social-first series, Components, bringing short news stories directly to LinkedIn.
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