Photos: The Symantec bunker

1 of 8
  • symantec-8.jpg

    The Symantec bunker was built by the UK government in the early 1990s to shelter key utilities workers in the event of a nuclear attack and was originally a reservoir. The entrance is set into a hill near Winchester.

    For our full feature on Symantec's bunker, click here. 

    For photos of one of the UK's other leading security firms at work, click here for our look inside Sophos' Pentagon.

    Caption by: Tom Espiner

  • symantec-5.jpg

    The airlock door is monitored by a digital camera 24/7. CCTV cameras give a 360 degree view of the outside of the bunker, and have 30 days of digitally recorded back-up.

    Caption by: Tom Espiner

  • symantec-1.jpg

    Blast doors lead into the bunker. They were designed to minimise the shock waves caused by a nuclear explosion. The air inside the bunker is pressurised to 1.5 ppsi greater than the external air pressure, the stop unfiltered air entering the bunker.

    Caption by: Tom Espiner

  • symantec-4.jpg

    The glassed-off room that is the Security Operations Centre. Workstations are constantly manned by up to 15 analysts. Threats are also monitored on the four flatscreens on the facing wall.

    Caption by: Tom Espiner

  • symantec-6.jpg

    Symantec collects information from their customers' intrustion prevention and detections systems and their firewalls. This data is analysed, and customers are told if they are under attack.

    Malicious code can be dealt with in the bunker, or it can be escalated to Symantec's security response centre in Dublin. Symantec's global infrastructure is in constant communication, and includes labs in Calgary, Dublin and Auckland.

    Caption by: Tom Espiner

  • symantec-11.jpg

    Symantec filters 1.5 billion lines of potentially malicious code per day, and collates information from email honeypots as well as customer desktops and servers.

    Caption by: Tom Espiner

  • symantec-2.jpg

    All workers must sign in and out at this terminal when entering and leaving the bunker. All visitors must be announced at least 24 hours beforehand, and this extends to Symantec employees without the necessary security clearance.

    Caption by: Tom Espiner

  • symantec-1.jpg

    The view out of the bunker towards the airlock, with door-locks on the left. The doors can be closed, and the air inside filtered in the event of the external atmosphere becoming toxic.

    For our full feature on Symantec's bunker, click here.

    Want to see one of the UK's other leading security firms at work? Click here to see our photos of the inside of Sophos' Pentagon. 

    Caption by: Tom Espiner

1 of 8

ZDNet UK has taken a trip inside Symantec's nuclear bunker to get a peek at how it fights the menace of cybercrime

Read More Read Less

The Symantec bunker was built by the UK government in the early 1990s to shelter key utilities workers in the event of a nuclear attack and was originally a reservoir. The entrance is set into a hill near Winchester.

For our full feature on Symantec's bunker, click here. 

For photos of one of the UK's other leading security firms at work, click here for our look inside Sophos' Pentagon.

Caption by: Tom Espiner

1 of 8

Related Topics:

Security Security TV Data Management CXO Data Centers

Related Galleries

    • 1 of 3