A small power plant in the United Kingdom remained closed for four days last July due to a cyberattack carried out by hackers of Iranian origin, according to the British newspaper The Telegraph.
“It is believed to be the first time hackers linked to the Iranian regime have managed to shut down such a facility in the UK, and it is considered the most successful cyberattack of its kind,” the newspaper highlights.
The country’s authorities have not disclosed the name or location of the plant for security reasons. What has been revealed is that the staff worked for four days to restore the service.
Fortunately, it was a small facility, and the blackout did not affect the general supply in the UK. Despite this, the Government has warned electric companies and businesses about the incident and offered them guidance on how to act.
The attack was also reported to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which is part of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and helps protect the UK’s critical infrastructure.
It is believed that the attack did not seek direct harm against civilians, but rather that the hackers linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard simply wanted to demonstrate that they could access and disconnect British infrastructure at will.
This incident coincides with successive attacks by Iranian threat actors on the U.S. water system. These have affected dozens of wastewater treatment plants in a dozen states, causing flooding and low pressure in faucets.
In June, Richard Horne, CEO of the NCSC, revealed that the agency had managed more than 200 attacks against national critical infrastructure over the past year.
Collateral damage
Iran has intensified its cyberattacks against Western countries since the United States and Israel began airstrikes in February. Alleged Iranian operations have been reported in Germany, Poland, Finland, Belgium, and Albania, with Israel and other Middle Eastern countries being the most frequent targets.
In March, the National Cyber Security Centre already recommended that British organizations review their security strategy in light of the conflict.
