Britain's power companies have been put on alert after hackers believed to be linked to Iran shut down a small UK energy facility. Security chiefs briefed energy bosses on the attack, and officials did not deny reports the site stayed offline for four days.
Britain's power companies are on alert after hackers thought to be affiliated with the Iranian regime shut down a small UK energy facility. Energy bosses have been briefed by the country's security chiefs on the successful attack, and the government said Sunday it gave companies advice, direction and next steps.
British officials did not deny a Sunday Telegraph report that the attack closed the unnamed site for four days, with Iranian-linked hackers believed responsible. The UK energy department insisted the plant was small and had no significance to the national energy system, but the National Cyber Security Centre, a branch of signals intelligence agency GCHQ, is involved in the response.
Officials play down scale of the breach
One official said the site was "less than a rounding error compared to grid capacity", adding that Britain has thresholds requiring important generators to report cyber activity and that this site fell well below them. The official confirmed, however, that security services and the government had been notified of the attack.
UK officials declined to say where or when the incident took place. The government added that plans are in place to keep energy supply resilient in the highly unlikely event of significant disruption, regardless of the cause. The Iranian embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Echoes of attacks on US water systems
The Telegraph reported that the incident happened around the same time as a series of attacks on US water infrastructure last month, which affected 12 states and worried the White House. Those attacks were thought to be the work of CyberAv3ngers, a group operated by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the UK proscribed last month.
Those hackers targeted programmable logic controllers — industrial computers that manage water pumps, pressure and treatment processes. They gained access and changed passwords, locking out administrators and forcing the facilities to shut down and reboot. This Iranian group had been prowling around US infrastructure for several months, resulting in warnings from American authorities as early as April.
UK works on a longer-term resilience plan
The government said Britain has one of the most reliable electricity systems in the world and that it plays a fundamental role in national security. Ministers are drafting an Energy Resilience Strategy, due for publication later this year, covering risks from climate change, technological change and political threats.
Source: Financial Times
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