Cyberattack on a power plant in Britain, suspicions of hackers linked to Iran

A small power plant in the UK has been forced to shut down for around four days after a cyberattack, with British authorities suspecting that hackers linked to Iran may be behind the incident.

According to British media reports, the attack took place last month and affected a small power generator. The name and location of the facility have not been made public by the British government and the National Cyber ​​Security Centre (NCSC), for security reasons.

Authorities have announced that the incident did not pose a risk to the overall electricity supply in the country, as the facility hit is not part of the main power plants that are critical to the functioning of the national grid.

However, the incident has raised new concerns about the cybersecurity of British energy infrastructure.

The British newspaper The Telegraph reported that authorities suspect the attack may have been carried out by cyber actors with ties to Iran. So far, the British government and the NCSC have not made a public attribution for the attack.

Following the incident, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has contacted energy sector companies to warn them of the increased risk of cyberattacks on critical infrastructure.

The UK operates a number of small gas-fired generators, which are used to provide additional power capacity during periods of increased demand on the grid.

For this reason, although the attack did not cause an interruption in the national electricity supply, the fact that an energy facility was forced to stop working for several days is seen by the authorities as a warning signal about the potential vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure to cyber threats.

The incident comes at a time when the UK and its allies have increased warnings about cyber activities by state actors and groups linked to foreign regimes, particularly against the energy, communications and critical infrastructure sectors.

The GeoPost