'It's older than my dad' Thames Water has left ancient IT prone to attack, say sources

Thames Water has left ancient IT prone to attack, say sources

- Anna Isaac

The software we use is older than me, and some of the hardware is older than my dad," says Siddharth*. He is one of a team fighting a daily battle to sustain ancient IT infrastructure at Thames Water.

Sometimes the defences are breached. Thames, the UK's largest water and waste treatment company, is on a "knife-edge", according to sources, with its resilience in doubt because it depends on an array of creaking infrastructure. While plenty of attention has been paid to its pipes, less well understood is another big problem: its computer systems.

Some IT systems date back to the 1980s. According to sources who spoke to the Guardian, the systems are so antiquated they have been easy for cybercriminals to attack.

"The hardware really is properly falling apart in front of your eyes," says Siddharth, who is in his 20s. "We've been keeping machines going by using parts from similar old ones. But we've run out of our stores. We're actually unable to turn things off, because we find we can't turn them on again."

Thames and other companies' vulnerabilities are causing concern within Whitehall and beyond. Its economic regulator, Ofwat, has a responsibility to ensure water companies, including Thames - which has 16 million customers are financially resilient.