Brazil holds nuclear cybersecurity exercise

Brazil carried out Cyber Guardian, a national cybersecurity exercise that brought together about 4,000 people from 380 institutions. About 1,300 took part in person in Brasília and at regional hubs in Belém, Curitiba, Manaus, Recife, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. The activity used training tools and simulated environments provided by the IAEA to prepare for attacks against information technology and operational technology networks.

What was trained in Cyber Guardian?

The IAEA and participating authorities used simulated scenarios to improve interagency coordination and the resilience of essential services. The exercise included risks tied to nuclear plants, small modular reactors, artificial intelligence applications, hospitals that use radioactive sources and maritime nuclear applications. The cybersecurity coordinator at Brazil’s nuclear authority described those cases as diverse and new scenarios.

Why is this kind of simulation relevant for OT?

Fernando Carbone, technical security lead at IBM Consulting Brazil, said that the expansion of connectivity and industrial automation widened the attack surface for operational technology. Carbone warned that an OT incident can disrupt production and affect critical infrastructure. In parallel, an IBM report cited by BNamericas said that, in Brazil, the most common initial causes of the data breaches analyzed were supply chain compromise and phishing, at 16% each.

What scope did the exercise have in Brazil?

Cyber Guardian is presented in the material not as a response to a real incident, but as training based on simulated threats. Additional coverage reviewed found no evidence of real compromises or verified operational results at the participating institutions. That keeps the focus of the event on joint preparation rather than on confirming a specific attack or drawing conclusions about flaws detected during the drill.