The first quarter of 2025 shattered cybersecurity records with a 126% attack surge, but for data centers, the real shock came in April when the UK made energy security a compliance issue. The country’s new Cyber Security and Resilience Bill targeting data centers with mandatory reporting reflects critical recognition from authorities that cybercriminals have evolved beyond traditional IT attacks.
Today's threats target operational technology systems, creating a dual vulnerability that legacy security frameworks never anticipated. Data centers now face cyberattacks that can simultaneously cripple digital networks and compromise power infrastructure, which is exactly why the UK government is demanding elevated security standards across all domains.
When the internet boom left security behind
Most of today's data center backup systems were installed during the late 1990s internet explosion, when companies raced to get online and cyber threats meant amateur hackers defacing websites, not nation-state actors. Diesel generators were engineered for mechanical reliability, not digital security — in 1999, the idea of hackers targeting industrial control systems was pure science fiction.
A quarter-century later, those generators remain frozen in the dial-up age — still running on protocols designed when digital threats were theoretical, not existential. Default credentials, unencrypted communications, and predictable control sequences that seemed sensible in 1999 now provide sophisticated attackers with direct access to data centers’ power supply.
This infrastructure challenge reflects a broader industry reality: while technology solutions exist, recent research shows that infrastructure limitations represent the second largest barrier to modernization, cited by 26% of organizations attempting to upgrade critical systems. Centralized architecture amplifies this vulnerability exponentially: a single compromised controller can cascade into facility-wide power loss, transforming millions of pounds of cutting-edge infrastructure into expensive paperweights.
While data centers routinely invest heavily in optimizing digital efficiency, enhncements to power infrastructure have been left decades behind. Even targeted improvements like data storage optimization can deliver 20% energy reductions, yet backup power systems remain frozen in the last century.
The BESS advantage
Modern battery energy storage systems (BESS) offer a fundamentally different approach — one built for the cyber threat landscape we face today. Unlike legacy generators, intelligent battery systems provide inherent cybersecurity advantages through distributed architecture and advanced control mechanisms that incorporate multiple defensive layers: encrypted communications, air-gapped control systems, and autonomous operation capabilities that function independently of network connectivity.
This distributed approach ensures that even if cybercriminals compromise one component, the overall system maintains operational resilience. Perhaps most critically, BESS enables "cyber-resilient redundancy", deploying multiple, independent battery units that operate autonomously, forcing attackers to simultaneously compromise multiple independent systems and dramatically increasing the complexity and cost of successful attacks.
Beyond cybersecurity, emerging business models like Battery Energy Storage-as-a-Service (BESS-as-a-Service) transform the entire economics of backup power. Rather than massive upfront capital expenditure, operators shift to predictable operational expenses whilst transferring cybersecurity maintenance burdens to specialist providers who can respond faster to emerging threats than individual facilities. This service model recognizes cybersecurity as an ongoing requirement rather than a one-time implementation, with professional providers maintaining continuous security updates, threat monitoring, and rapid incident response capabilities that most data center operators cannot match in-house.
Beyond security advantages, intelligent battery systems can generate revenue through demand response programs and energy arbitrage, offsetting operational costs in ways traditional diesel generators never could.
Preparing for a post-legacy era
The regulatory landscape is accelerating to match these realities. The UK's Cyber Security and Resilience Bill mandates that data centers above 1MW capacity implement "proportionate measures" for cybersecurity risk management, with enhanced reporting requirements taking effect within 24 hours of incidents. Similar frameworks are emerging globally, from the EU's Cyber Resilience Act to enhanced critical infrastructure protection standards worldwide, all specifically targeting operational technology systems and recognizing that traditional IT-focused security approaches are insufficient for modern threats.
These regulations acknowledge what the threat landscape has already demonstrated: cybersecurity and energy security are now inseparable. Data center operators maintaining artificial boundaries between power and cyber protection create exploitable vulnerabilities.
Forward-thinking operators who invest in cyber-resilient energy infrastructure today will find themselves ahead of these mandates, avoiding the supply constraints and premium costs that typically accompany urgent compliance drives. More importantly, they'll be building facilities prepared for an increasingly hostile threat environment where modern battery energy storage systems represent foundational technologies for cyber-resilient data centers, not mere backup power alternatives.
For data center operators, the question isn't whether cyber threats will evolve but whether their infrastructure can evolve faster. Building resilient operations means integrating energy security with cybersecurity strategy rather than managing them separately. Long-term success requires operators who understand that protecting digital infrastructure means securing the power systems that enable it.
In an era where cyber resilience determines business continuity, the distinction between power infrastructure and cybersecurity has become a luxury the industry can no longer afford.
