Britain Suspects Iranian Pirates Behind Temporary Power Plant Disruption - Sarmad
The British government suspects that hackers linked to Iran carried out a cyberattack that temporarily caused a British power plant to shut down, in an incident that appears to be a clear escalation by Tehran in response to Britain’s permission for the United States to use its military bases during the war on Iran, according to the Guardian.
According to the British government, the attack targeted a small power generator and never posed a threat to the country’s broader energy system.
The power plant was out of operation for four days following the attack that occurred last month, according to the Sunday Telegraph, which was the first to report the news.
A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero told the Guardian: “This report concerns an incident that affected a small power generator, and there was never any risk to the wider energy system. The UK has a highly resilient energy system, and we are working closely with the energy sector to protect infrastructure and ensure the highest security standards.”
The National Cyber Security Centre, which is responsible for responding to attacks on critical infrastructure, received no reports from regulated power plant operators about service outages.
Countries such as Russia, China, and Iran are increasingly targeting systems that support essential services in Britain, according to a warning issued earlier this year by Richard Horne, chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre.
Last month, the British government stated that the UK was “ready to defend itself,” after the Iranian military warned that any bases used by the United States would be considered “legitimate targets.”
London has allowed the United States to conduct what it termed “defensive operations” against Tehran from British bases hosting US aircraft since the beginning of the US war on Iran, but it has refused to participate in offensive operations. The new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has not changed this policy; he was informed last week of the decision to extend the agreement with the United States.
Iran has faced accusations for years of launching cyberattacks on various countries, including attacks linked to the widespread power outage in Turkey in 2015, as well as potential breaches of Israeli government websites in 2022.
Earlier this year, US government security agencies issued a warning about cyberattacks launched by hackers linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps against critical infrastructure.
The United States claimed that a group linked to Iran known as “CyberAv3ngers” carried out a campaign against it in 2023, resulting in the compromise of at least 75 devices across various sectors of infrastructure.
