The UK Government has designated data centres as “Critical National Infrastructure,” offering increased protections for sites throughout the country.

Assets that receive a CNI destination receive increased support in the event of incidents owing to their importance to the British economy.

Data centres are now on equal footing as the country’s water and energy services with operators able to expect greater government support in recovering from “critical incidents.”

The government said the designation means data housed and processed in UK data centres will be “less likely to be compromised during outages, cyber attacks, and adverse weather events.”

The UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said the designation will provide “greater reassurance” that the UK is safe house data centres as the country looks to increase its digital infrastructure.

DSIT estimates the industry already generates an estimated £4.6 billion in revenues a year.

The added CNI protections will “boost business confidence in investing in data centres in the country” — with the announcement coming one day after AWS announced plans to spend £8 billion in the UK on data centres over the next five years.

“Data centres are the engines of modern life, they power the digital economy and keep our most personal information safe,” said Peter Kyle, the UK’s technology secretary.

“Bringing data centres into the CNI regime will allow better coordination and cooperation with the government against cyber criminals and unexpected events.”

Following the announcement, the government will create a dedicated CNI data infrastructure team to monitor and anticipate potential threats to UK data centres. The team will be given prioritised access to security agencies including the National Cyber Security Centre and can coordinate with emergency services in the event of a major incident such as the CrowdStrike incident that impacted IT services across the globe.

The awarding of CNI designation to data centres is the first addition in almost a decade after the space and defence sectors gained the same protected status in 2015.

In total, there are 13 national infrastructure sectors covered by the CNI regime, including health, food, transport and water, each of which includes sub-sectors, such as the police and ambulance sat under emergency services.

DSIT’s CNI designation came as the UK is set to become one of Europe’s largest data centres.

DC01UK plans to build a £3.75 billion site in Hertfordshire, a county just outside of North London.

Planning has been submitted for what DC01UK billed as a “world-leading” site that would span some two million square feet.

The site is estimated to create some 700 local jobs while supporting wider tech businesses across the country.

“Data centres are fundamental to our digitising economy and are a key driver of growth,” said Matthew Evans, director of markets and chief operating officer at techUK.

“TechUK welcomes the government’s pivotal decision to designate the data centres sector as Critical National Infrastructure and the recognition of the critical role they play in the UK’s modern economy.”

James Williams, director of technology, media, and, telecoms (TMT) at cybersecurity company NCC Group said the decision to designate data centres as CNI “ensures that all critical infrastructure is equipped to withstand cyber attacks.”

“Data centres are a little-known cornerstone of our economy and daily lives, powering everything from business operations to essential cloud services,” Williams said. “Our reliance on data centres to provide continuous, uninterrupted service and connectivity is without question but often overlooked.

“Classification of these centres as critical infrastructure is a much-needed change that will better protect and secure our everyday lives, and is a recommendation we’ve been in discussions with the UK government on for some time. It signals this government’s commitment to embedding cyber security within a wider security strategy.”

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